Department for Transport

Members: Correspondence

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue a Direction to the Chief Executive of Network Rail to reply to the letter of 27 October 2014 from the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling on the need to lengthen the platforms at Cowden, Hever and Edenbridge Town stations by 27 July 2015.

Claire Perry: Network Rail operates at arm’s length from the Department for Transport, and is not expected to involve Ministers in its regular operational decisions such as whether to lengthen the platforms at Cowden, Hever and Edenbridge Town Stations by 27 July 2015. However, this is an unacceptable delay. I have been advised by Network Rail that they responded on 3 February. Network Rail has also informed me that it is now able to deliver the platforms referred to in early summer 2016 rather than December 2015 as initially planned in its Control Period 5 programme of works. As an interim measure between the trains being available in July 2015 and the platforms being complete in summer 2016, Govia Thameslink Railway will be able to use rolling stock to lengthen trains to 8-cars, which will be a considerable benefit to passengers suffering overcrowded services.

Roads: Animals

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what procedure exists for notifying owners of pets that are killed on the strategic road network.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways Agency Network Management Manual (2009) sets out procedures for notifying owners of canines that are killed on the strategic road network for a number of Highways Agency area maintenance contracts. These contracts are due to be phased out which will result in a different approach in dealing with canine fatalities across the strategic road network as the replacement contracts no longer mandate that canine fatalities are scanned, identified or the owners contacted. Consequently, the Highways Agency is currently assessing the potential merits of amending contracts to understand the implications of including mandatory identification and recording of domestic animals found on the strategic road network, including contacting pet owners where possible and advising relevant registration organisations.

Roads: Animals

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any changes are planned to the notification system for those pets killed on the strategic road network after the micro-chipping law comes into force in 2016.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways Agency is aware that the Animal Welfare Act will be amended to reflect the change to compulsory microchipping of dogs by April 2016. In advance of this change, the Highways Agency is currently assessing the potential merits of amending contracts to understand the implications of including mandatory identification and recording of domestic animals found on the strategic road network, including contacting pet owners where possible and advising relevant registration organisations.

Railways: Compensation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that where Network Rail pays compensation to a train operating company, there is a duty on the company (a) to pass on a proportion of that compensation to all affected passengers and (b) to pro-actively inform passengers of that automatic entitlement; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Where not already in place we are introducing the Delay/Repay scheme, and other enhanced compensation regimes as new franchises are let, and as opportunities arise within existing franchises. Delay/Repay is designed to recompense customers for significant delays to their journeys, including through cancellations. The minimum standard for passenger compensation is set out in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (NRCoC). The NRCoC are effectively the terms and conditions for rail tickets sold in Great Britain. And all Train Operating Companies (TOCs) are required under their franchise agreement to have in place a Passenger’s Charter which will include arrangements for compensation for passengers. In their Passenger’s Charters, most TOCs do offer more than the NRCoC minimum. TOCs can, at their discretion, go beyond the commitments in their Passenger’s Charter on an ex gratia basis. The Government continues to keep this under review to ensure passengers are treated fairly.

Publicity

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2015 to Question 222065, what amount was spent on each of the 10 largest items of media and publicity expenditure in 2013-14.

Claire Perry: The amount spent on the 10 largest items of media and publicity expenditure in the financial year 2013-14 are provided in the table below:Amount £’000  Coastal Rescue Public Relations events 87DfT Road Safety Marketing Campaign: Purchase of road safety materials70Internal Communications37Procurement advertising 32Highways Agency: Statutory Advertising. Advertising in local papers advising the publicof future works, closures and route changes.23As above 22As above 21As above 20As above 17 As above 17

Immobilisation of Vehicles

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 222103, how many vehicles were clamped by the DVLA wheel-clamping service in 2013-14.

Claire Perry: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s wheelclamping contractors clamped or impounded 45,602 vehicles between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014. Some local authorities and police forces have devolved powers to take enforcement action against unlicensed vehicles on behalf of the DVLA. Between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, 9,289 vehicles were clamped or impounded by these local authorities and police forces. It is not possible to separate the number of vehicles that were clamped from the number of vehicles that were impounded.

Reprography

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222099, what the amount spent was on each instance of reprographic expenditure totalling more than £10,000 in 2013-14.

Claire Perry: The amount spent on separately identifiable instances of reprographic expenditure totalling more than £10,000 in 2013-14 are listed in the table below:   ReasonsExpenditure totalling more than £10,000Items   £'000DVLA reprographic costs – specialist printing undertaken.7,521Printing of the Environmental Statement and Environmental consultation costs886British Transport Police costs relating to reusable CDs & USB sticks being used for policing purposes. Such items are charged to this account code along with reprographics.655Certificates issued to sea-men as proof of necessary qualifications. These have to be specially printed to prevent forgery.180Franking machine to cover postage of mass updated copies of car fuel consumption guide, print copies and manuals and technical reports.107

Procurement

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221264, in respect of which projects or programmes were the sums for Ove Arup & Partners Limited, Atkins Limited, Environmental Resources Management Limited and CH2M Hill UK incurred.

Claire Perry: The projects or programmes sums for Ove Arup & Partners Limited, Atkins Limited, Environmental Resources Management Limited and CH2M Hill UK incurred are provided in the table below as follows:  Organisation Project/Programme Ove Arup & Partners LimitedActivity 1 and Activity 2Atkins LimitedActivity 1 and Activity 2Environmental Resources Management Limited (ERM)Activity 2CH2M Hill UKActivity 3 These suppliers contribute to the design of the HS2 project overall. This is split into three 3 activities listed below: · Activity 1 – Civil Engineering and Structural Design Services:To develop the existing concept design and produce a design which meets HS2 Ltd’s strategic objectives and the overall design programme. · Activity 2 – Environmental Services:This activity includes scope and methodology for surveys and impact assessments, environmental design aims, environmental engagement with stakeholders, environmental survey, environmental impact assessment, health impact assessment, equality impact assessment, and a mitigation report. · Activity 3 – Development Partner role:Supporting HS2 Ltd moving from Hybrid Bill Delivery to support and assisting on the next stage.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 222103, what proportion of the costs relating to the Modernising Employment Contract Buyout and subsequent merger of VOSA and DSA to form the DVSA were paid in (a) severance payments for employees and (b) lieu of notice; and how many people were in receipt of such payments.

Claire Perry: None of the costs relating to the Modernising Employment Contract buyout and the subsequent merger of VOSA and DSA to form the DVSA were paid in severance payments or lieu of notice.

West Coast Railway Line

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with Network Rail on West Coast Mainline possession in the light of recent disruption on the Chiltern line.

Claire Perry: Ministers and Department officials have already had discussions with Network Rail regarding the February West Coast Mainline possessions in the light of recent disruption on the Chiltern line. So that a direct passenger route can be provided between the West Midlands and London, Network Rail have taken a decision to defer the West Coast Mainline possessions that were planned for the weekends of 14 and 21 February. Train operators are currently working on plans to reintroduce services over those two weekends and will shortly publish a special timetable on their websites and available via www.nationalrail.co.uk.

Driving Tests: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222607, what savings have accrued to the public purse from closure of driving centres in Scotland since 2010-11.

Claire Perry: I can confirm that £293,667.50 worth of savings have accrued to the public purse from closures of driving test centres in Scotland since 2010-11.

Railways: Finance

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has provided for railway and station infrastructure projects in (a) Plymouth, (b) Devon, (c) Cornwall, (d) Torbay, (e) Somerset, (f) Durham, (g) Newcastle, (h) North Tyneside, (i) Northumberland, (j) South Tyneside and (k) Sunderland since 2010; and what estimate he has made of the contribution of the local councils in those locations to such projects.

Claire Perry: We do not hold the information in the format requested and collating it could only be done at disproportionate cost. However, significant infrastructure improvements have been delivered across the UK since 2010. Further details of this, and committed spend in future years, are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-infrastructure-plan.

Railways: North of England

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing Driver Only Operation on the Northern Rail and Transpennine Express Franchises.

Claire Perry: We are working closely with Rail North on all aspects of the specifications for the Northern and TransPennine franchises; this includes considering the option of specifying that, where appropriate, drivers take on increased responsibility including the job of opening and closing the train doors, as has been the norm on many other parts of the railway for 30 years. Making such changes, where applicable, could enhance efficiency and improve service to passengers by allowing other on-train staff to be focussed on passenger needs and revenue protection. It can also help reduce the time trains spend at the stations, by improving train despatch. Putting Driver Only Operation in operation removes the frustration of trains being delayed or cancelled as a result of no conductor being available, for example because through no fault of their own they have been delayed on another service. The specifications for the franchise are in the process of being finalised and will be published in due course.

Roads: Capital Investment

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of his Department's funding for the first road period of the Road Investment Strategy will fund staffing costs to design, manage and deliver schemes (a) already committed to within the Road Investment Strategy and (b) not yet determined.

Mr John Hayes: The proportion of costs of delivering individual schemes that relates to staffing will vary from case to case, with the largest proportion being determined following negotiation with suppliers. However the Road Investment Strategy is expected to support an average of 11,400 jobs per year between 2015 and 2020 – all of which relate to schemes formally announced in the strategy – and further work will be done during this road period to develop additional schemes for the next strategy.

Railways: Bristol

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of fully reopening the Henbury Loop rail line to passenger trains in Bristol.

Claire Perry: The Department has made no assessment regarding the merits of fully reopening the Henbury Loop railway line, as this is a matter for West of England Partnership (WoEP) to consider. As part of the Growth Fund, we have made available £3.2m for the development work for MetroWest Phase 2 and if WoEP would like to pursue this option further we are happy to work with them.

Offshore Industry

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received on the decision of Shell UK Ltd to contract the Allseas Group vessel the Pieter Schelte to carry out decommissioning work on three platforms in the Brent Field on the UK Continental Shelf; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: I have received representations from the trade union, Unite, objecting to the name of the vessel, the Pieter Schelte. The Allseas Group made a statement on 6 February confirming that the name of the vessel would be changed and that the new name would be announced shortly.

Offshore Industry

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measure are in place to regulate compliance with (a) Article III(a) and (b) other Articles of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 on vessels contracted to work in the offshore of the Continental Shelf.

Mr John Hayes: Measures to regulate compliance with Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC) are contained within UK regulations transposing the Convention and in the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Regulations 2011 (Statutory Instrument 2601). For ships flying the UK flag, the Articles of the MLC are enforced through the survey of the ship, review of the documentation required and issue of MLC certification (valid for maximum of five years) by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and inspections of these ships are conducted twice in five years. In particular, the provisions of Article III(a) are enforced through the review of Seafarer Employment Agreements (SEA). MCA guidance specifically states that an SEA that prohibits membership of a Trade Union would not be accepted as compliant with the MLC. A SEA must also include the conditions for termination of employment, and minimum notice period, which must not be less for the ship owner than for the seafarer. In respect of ships flying a flag other than UK flag, when they are inspected in UK ports in accordance with procedures under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding and European Union directive on Port State Control, the valid MLC certificate and associated documentation on board is prima facie evidence that the ship is deemed to comply with the Convention. If the inspector finds that documents are not produced; are false or not complete; or that the working and living conditions on the ship are not in compliance with the relevant requirements of the Convention; or there is a complaint alleging specific non-compliance; then a more detailed inspection may be carried out. The inspector shall bring any deficiencies found to the attention of the Master immediately with required deadlines for their rectification. If the conditions on board are clearly hazardous to the safety health or security of seafarers, or they constitute a serious or repeated breach of the requirements of the Convention, then the ship shall not be allowed to depart until the breaches have been rectified, or a rectification action plan is agreed.

Members: Correspondence

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2014 to Question 212483, if he will direct the Chief Executive of Network Rail to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire of 4 November 2014 on collision protection beams at bridges.

Claire Perry: Network Rail operates at arm’s length from the Department and is not expected to involve Ministers in regular operational matters. However, to have not responded by this date is unacceptable and Network Rail advises that a reply will be issued to my Hon Friend for North East Cambridgeshire by 13th February.

Cycling

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have taken up the Cycle to Work scheme in each year since that scheme's establishment.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department does not retain data on the uptake of the Cycle to Work scheme. This is because the Cycle to Work scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit; meaning the Department does not collect the data. Independently of Government however, the Cycle to Work Alliance have published reports containing information on take up of the scheme: http://www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk/news.html.

Home Office

Radicalism

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 4.2 of the report of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, published in December 2013, in how many areas of the country delivery of Prevent has been made a legal requirement.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 January 2015



The report from the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism committed the Government to ‘make delivery of Prevent a legal requirement in those areas of the country where extremism is of particular concern’. Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill places a duty on specified authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. These proposals will make the delivery of Prevent a legal requirement across England, Scotland, and Wales.

Asylum

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fresh applications for asylum have been (a) made and (b) accepted, in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 22 January 2015



There were 905 fresh claims, from main applicants, for asylum in the United Kingdom in 2009, 1,621 in 2010, 969 in 2011, 849 in 2012 and 866 in 2013 (provisional figure). This data can be found at as_01 and as_01_q at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.2014 fresh claims data will be released on 26 February 2015.

Asylum: Syria

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of Syrian refugees resettled by local authorities in the UK to date.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many local authorities have (a) applied for and (b) received funding from her Department for the purposes of resettling Syrian refugees; and what the total value was of that funding.

James Brokenshire: A number of local authorities across the UK accept Syrian refugees under normal asylum procedures. Over 3,400 Syrians have been granted asylum or other forms of leave since the crisis in Syria began in 2011. Furthermore, Syrian asylum seekers who are not being accommodated by the Government, can choose to live in any local authority area. In addition to this the Home Secretary launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme last January to provide sanctuary for those displaced Syrians who are most at risk, particularly survivors of torture and violence, women and children at risk and those in need of medical care. Following the launch of this scheme the Home Secretary wrote to the Chairman of the Local Government Association on 11 February 2014 encouraging local authority participation and this letter has been cascaded across local authorities. So far, three local authorities have received refugees under the scheme and we continue to engage closely with additional local authorities who have expressed an interest in participation. We therefore remain confident that we can continue to meet the needs of arrivals in the UK under the scheme as planned but we welcome further offers of support from other local authorities as the scheme progresses.Full costs borne by the local authorities will not be known until the refugees have been in UK for a full 12 months. Costs will depend on the particular vulnerabilities of those brought to the UK, and we are keeping costs under close review. Central government is responsible for the overall funding of the scheme, but we will recover costs wherever possible, including from international aid funding schemes and potential EU funding schemes. We have put forward proposals to obtain funding from the new EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and are hopeful of a positive outcome. The UK’s National Programme is yet to be agreed and until this is signed off by the EU Commission, costs to the Home Office specifically will not be finalised.Ninety people were relocated to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme between the first group of arrivals on 25 March and the end of September. This is the latest publicly available figure, as numbers are released as part of the Home Office official statistics each quarter. The number of arrivals under the scheme up to the end of December 2014 will be published on 26 February. We have said that we expect the scheme to help several hundred people over three years, and we remain on track to deliver that commitment.

Advertising

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's advertising budget was in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Karen Bradley: The table below outlines the allocated advertising budget for the Department over the past five financial years. It is the Government's priority to reduce spending in these areas and this budget has been reduced by 71% since May 2010. 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15£17,196,000£8,141,000£9,000,000£4,900,000£5,013,000By comparison the advertising budget was £18,670,000 in 2008/09 and £18,500,000 in 2009/10.

Communication

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's communications budget was in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Karen Bradley: The table below outlines the allocated advertising budget for the Department over the past five financial years. It is the Government's priority to reduce spending in these areas and spend on communications has been reduced by 40% since May 2010. 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15£28,327,000£17,738,000£18,763,890£13,976,000£18,461,800 By comparison the communications budget was £30,927,000 in 2008/09 and £30,324,000 in 2009/10.

Offenders: Foreign Nationals

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress operation Nexus has made on tackling offending by foreign nationals.

James Brokenshire: Operation Nexus has enabled the removal of more than 3,100 foreign criminals, including 269 offenders considered by the police to represent a serious threat since it was established in 2012. The Nexus model of joint working currently operates in nine forces across the UK and we are continuing to implement it across the whole of Great Britain.Nexus work continues to make best use of all available information to tackle the threat, risk and harm posed by foreign national offenders

Data Protection: Acquisition

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale and process will be for her Department's response to its consultation on the codes of practice relating to the acquisition and retention of data; and if she will make a statement.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish all responses received to her Department's consultation on the codes of practice relating to the acquisition and retention of data.

James Brokenshire: The consultation on the codes of practice relating to the acquisition, disclosure, and retention of communications data closed on 20 January. Over 290 responses were received, which are currently being considered. Final version of the codes will be laid before Parliament. Not all of those who responded to the consultation gave their consent for their responses to be made public.

Domestic Violence

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will launch an inquiry into the reasons for, and implications for her policies of, the recent increase in domestic violence cases in the UK.

Lynne Featherstone: The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that the trend in the prevalence of domestic abuse has been flat since 2007/08. In 2012/13, the number of police recorded incidents of domestic abuse was at its highest level since 2007/08, at 838,026. In addition, latest data from the CPS show that the volume of domestic abuse referrals from the police rose to 103,569 in 2013-14 – a rise of 15,459 referrals (17.5%) from 2012-13 and the highest level ever. 72,905 (70.4% of these referrals) were charged, the highest volumes and proportions since 2007/08. We welcome this increase in reporting and find it encouraging that victims can have greater confidence that their cases will be brought to prosecution with a greater number of perpetrators brought to justice.

Radicalism

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2015 to Question 221195, on radicalism, what proportion of referrals to Channel were for far right concerns.

James Brokenshire: Since Channel was rolled out nationally in 2012, over 2000 people have been referred to the programme, and hundreds have been offered support across all forms of extremism.The Home Office intends to publish detailed data on the Channel programme shortly. Before this happens, the Hon. Member may find it useful to visit the website of the Association of Chief Police Officers which has published its own data on Channel from April 2007 which also covers the pilot phase:http://www.acpo.police.uk/ACPOBusinessAreas/PREVENT/NationalChannelReferralFigures.aspx

Domestic Violence

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of domestic violence were reported to the police in the last three years; and in how many of those cases there was a complaint of coercive control.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



The Home Office receives information on the number of domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police. Information is not received on the number of complaints received. The latest available statistics show that the police recorded 755,354 domestic abuse incidents in 2010/11, 817,522 incidents in 2011/12 and 838,026 incidents in 2012/13.The increase in domestic abuse incidents recorded by the police over this time period is thought to reflect improvements in the identification and recording of these incidents by the police. The domestic abuse incident collection covers both physical and non-physical abuse, but it is not possible from these data to indentify how many cases included an element of coercive control.The 2013/14 data will be published by the Office for National Statistics on 12 February 2015.

Domestic Violence

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what research her Department has (a) conducted and (b) commissioned into the incidence of coercive control in domestic violence complaints.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



The Crime Survey for England and Wales provides comprehensive data on the nature of domestic violence and abuse, and there is now a widespread understanding that domestic abuse is not just about violence. In recognition of this, in March 2013, we expanded the Government’s non-statutory definition of domestic violence and abuse to capture coercive and controlling behaviour.In 2014, we consulted on whether the legal framework to protect victims of domestic abuse should be strengthened, recognising that coercive and controlling behaviour can be harder to recognise but can have an equally devastating impact on its victims. The majority of respondents to the consultation agreed that there is a gap in the law, and we are now legislating to close this gap. A summary of the evidence collected from the consultation is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-law-on-domestic-abuseWe are committed to improving the way data on domestic abuse including coercive and controlling behaviour is collected. New guidelines have been issued to the police on collecting domestic abuse data against a clear national standard. We are also developing a reliable and safe model for surveying victims of domestic abuse.

Dorset Police

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the performance of Dorset Police in meeting the standards required by its service level agreement with the Disclosure and Barring Service; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Dorset Police

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police checks commissioned by the Disclosure and Barring Service from Dorset Police were completed within (a) 60, (b) 25, (c) 18 and (d) 14 days in the most recent six months for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigration

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals have applied for an administrative review under paragraph 34M of Part 1 of the Immigration Rules since 20 October 2014.

James Brokenshire: According to internal management information,138 people applied for an administrative review under paragraph 34M of Part 1 of the Immigration Rules between 20 October 2014 and 31 December 2014.

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Questions 221902, how many of the asylum claimants referred to in the Answer were granted leave to remain in the UK.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arrests: Foreign Nationals

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of foreign national arrests under Operation Nexus were made up of each of the top three nationalities involved in the last year for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to appoint the next Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigration

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted discretionary leave to remain in the last three years have subsequently been (a) granted and (b) refused a further grant of leave to remain.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Driving under Influence

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded by police force and successful prosecutions there have been in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Road Traffic Offences

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) arrests were made and (b) prosecutions conducted for road traffic offences in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Driving under Influence

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded by each police force in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions of such offences there were in each of those countries in each of those years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many driving offences relating to mobile telephone use were recorded by each police force in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years; and how many such offences were successfully prosecuted in each of those countries in each of those years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Radicalism

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to schools, colleges and universities on their obligations to tackle extremism.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office provides regular guidance on Prevent policy and delivery to the Prevent posts we fund across England and Wales who work with schools, colleges and universities. These posts include local authority Prevent co-ordinators in priority areas; Prevent Institutions Officers working with schools in a number of our priority areas; and Higher and Further Education Regional Prevent Co-ordinators, who work with colleges and universities.

Dogs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether dogs which have been de-barked outside the UK are permitted to be kept for breeding, supply or use in procedures at scientific establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Lynne Featherstone: There are no legal restrictions on dogs which have been de-barked outside the UK being kept for breeding, supply or use in procedures at scientific establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.However we consider that the Establishment Licence Standard Condition 4(2) ‘Any restrictions on the extent to which an animal can satisfy its physiological and ethological needs shall be kept to the minimum’ is relevant and we would strongly discourage stakeholders considering doing it for welfare and reputational risk reasons. We are not aware of any such dogs being kept at establishments licensed under the 1986 Act.The Home Office would not authorise the cutting of vocal cords of dogs under the 1986 Act. We cannot envisage any scenario where that would be acceptable unless it were for the health and well-being of the individual animal with the procedure conducted under Veterinary Surgeons Act.

National Crime Agency: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 3 Feburary 2015, on the National Crime Agency, when she expects that Agency to be fully operational in Northern Ireland.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigrants: Detainees

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what financial and material support her Department provides to families who are removed from the UK via pre-departure accommodation.

James Brokenshire: Families removed from the UK via Cedars pre-departure accommodation are provided with an individual returns support package which can include financial assistance, based on need.

National Crime Agency: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what practical arrangements will be made for co-operation between the National Crime Agency and security services in the Irish Republic when that agency becomes fully operational in Northern Ireland.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigrants: Detainees

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to extend or renew the current service level agreement between her Department and the National Offender Management Service on the use of prisons to hold immigration detainees.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the current service level agreement between her Department and the National Offender Management Service on the use of prisons to hold immigration detainees comes to an end.

James Brokenshire: The current service level agreement between the Home Office and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), which includes the use of prisons to hold immigration detainees, ends on 31 March 2015.The Home Office is in negotiation with NOMS to renew the agreement

Female Genital Mutilation

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Government's strategy for ending female genital mutilation.

Lynne Featherstone: Female genital mutilation is a crime and it is child abuse. This Government is determined to stamp it out.At last year’s Girl Summit we announced an unprecedented package of measures to tackle it. We have made real progress through strengthening the law to offer victims greater protection, consulting on mandatory reporting, establishing a cross-Government FGM unit, and delivering tailored resources for professionals and communities.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Libya

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on repairing desecrated headstones of British soldiers at Benghazi War Cemetery, Libya.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on progress made by the Libyan authorities on arresting and prosecuting people who desecrated the headstones of British soldiers at Benghazi War Cemetery in February 2012.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government was appalled by the damage to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and the Benghazi Military Cemetary that occurred in February and June 2012. As soon as UK officials were made aware of the damage, they visited the cemeteries to inspect the damage, and raised the issue with the Libyan authorities in Benghazi and Tripoli. With support from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the site has since been restored to a standard befitting the sacrifice of those commemorated in Benghazi. There is now a patrol and guard outside the cemetery to protect this important site from any further attacks.However, the authorities are unable to conduct investigations due to the current political and security situation. The attacks appear to have been carried out by extremist individuals, whose motives are unknown. Other religious sites in Libya have also been attacked since 2011, including Islamic sites. The UK is focused on supporting the efforts of Bernardino Leon, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, to build a political settlement and establishing a National Unity Government. This will help stabilise the country and help the judicial system to function again.

Conflict Pool

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool in (a) 2014-15 and (b) each of the five previous financial years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement which is separate from and additional to departmental budgets and is administered jointly by MOD, DFID and FCO for conflict prevention and mitigation work. Details of Conflict Pool allocations are provided to Parliament annually in a Written Ministerial Statement. Links to the Statements for Financial Years 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 are given below:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/67639/conflict-pool-annual-report.pdfhttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100325/wmstext/100325m0003.htm#10032542000392http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110405/wmstext/110405m0001.htm#11040558000008.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121119/wmstext/121119m0001.htm#1211195000006.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130613/wmstext/130613m0001.htm#13061331000006.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm140624/wmstext/140624m0001.htm

Tony Blair

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any official visits from (a) Kazakhstan, (b) Azerbaijan, (c) Kuwait, (d) Abu Dhabi, (e) Albania and (f) Libya were arranged or accompanied by Tony Blair since Mr Blair left office.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not aware of Mr Blair’s involvement in any official visits from (a) Kazakhstan, (b) Azerbaijan, (c) Kuwait, (d) Abu Dhabi, (e) Albania or (f) Libya. That would be a matter solely for Mr Blair and the governments of those countries.

Tony Blair

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any officials of his Department have been seconded to work directly for Tony Blair on (a) the Quartet and (b) other projects since Mr Blair left office.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office seconded two full-time members of staff to the Office of the Quarter Representative from 2007 until 2013.

Tony Blair

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the cost of Tony Blair's work for the Quartet.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Since its inception in 2007, the Office of the Quartet Representative (OQR) has been funded by donations from Quartet members, including the European Commission, EU member states and the US. Donations are pooled in a trust fund which is managed and administered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).In November 2007 the then Secretary for State for International Development approved a one-off payment of £400,000 from the UK to UNDP to help with the costs of setting up the OQR. Other countries also contributed to the set up costs: Norway gave $1 million; the European Commission $2 million; and the US provided IT equipment.The UK does not currently provide financial support to cover the costs of the OQR.

Tony Blair

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received from Tony Blair on (a) Kazakhstan, (b) Azerbaijan, (c) Kuwait, (d) Abu Dhabi, (e) Albania and (f) Libya since Mr Blair left office.

Mr David Lidington: We have searched the available records to provide this answer. To search archived records would incur disproportionate cost.There is no record of representations received from Mr Blair on (a) Kazakhstan, (b) Azerbaijan, (c) Kuwait, (d) Abu Dhabi, (e) Albania or (f) Libya since he left office.

Burma

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what offers were made to the government of Burma of expert help with the investigation of the rape and murder of two ethnic Kachin teachers on 20 January 2015.

Mr Hugo Swire: We have raised our concerns about the incident with the Burmese government, and have urged a rapid investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice. We will be closely monitoring the outcome of this investigation.

Nuclear Weapons

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the date and agenda are of the meeting in London on nuclear weapons of the Permanent Five Security Council members to be hosted by the Government; and if he will publish on his Department's website a list of all attendees at and the minutes of the meeting.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The London P5 Conference took place at Lancaster House, 4-5 February, and covered a wide range of issues relevant to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, encompassing disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The Conference included outreach with a number of non-nuclear weapon states – Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates – as well as civil society. P5 delegates also visited the Atomic Weapons Establishment; this was part of our efforts to enhance transparency, but appropriate measures were put in place to ensure that our national security interests were protected.The P5 Heads of Delegation were as follows:- China: Wang Qun, Director General, Department of Arms Control and Disarmament- France: Hélène Duchêne, Director for Strategic Affairs- Russia: Grigory Berdennikov, Ambassador-at-Large- UK: Peter Jones, Director for Defence and International Security- United States: Rose Gottemoeller, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International SecurityThe P5 issued a statement on conclusion of the Conference, which is available here: [link to be inserted once live]. This captures the key outcomes of the meeting.

Vietnam

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with the government of Vietnam freedom of religious expression in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We actively promote freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam. Our Embassy in Hanoi works closely with the embassies of likeminded countries to ensure this issue is raised regularly with the Vietnamese authorities. At the recent EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue in January, the UK supported the EU raising the issue of freedom of religion or belief, in particular the problems encountered by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief during his visit to Vietnam in July 2014. Our Ambassador in Hanoi also raised our concerns about Vietnam’s handling of the visit by the UN Special Rapporteur's visit with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We remain concerned about the general human rights situation in Vietnam. I most recently raised this when I met the Vietnamese Ambassador in London in November 2014, and will continue to do so when appropriate opportunities arise.

Nigeria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Nigerian government on implementing the (a) recommendations made by the UK and (b) other recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: At Nigeria’s UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October 2013, the UK called on the Nigerian government to fully investigate reports of extra judicial killings and torture by the Nigerian security forces, to bring to justice those responsible and to establish a human rights monitoring system.We continue to raise these and other human rights concerns with the Nigerian authorities, as highlighted at the UPR, such as the death penalty and LGBT rights.

Jordan

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with the Jordanian authorities the need for future responses by that country to ISIL to be seen internationally as proportionate.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) wrote to King Abdullah of Jordan condemning ISIL's murder of Lieutenant Mu’ath Al-Kassasbeh, and offering the condolences of the British Government and people. He confirmed that we stand together with Jordan and our coalition partners in eradicating this murderous extremism and the poisonous ideology behind it. The Foreign Secretary, My Rt Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) also contacted the Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. We will continue to engage with the Global Coalition, including Jordan, on how best to respond to the threat posed by ISIL.

Nigeria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the human rights implications of UK military assistance to the Nigerian government to help combat Boko Haram.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: When providing military assistance to another nation, the Ministry of Defence is required under the UK Government’s Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Human Rights Guidance to consider the possibility of that assistance directly or significantly contributing to a violation of human rights and to identify measures that mitigate this risk. We continue to follow these stringent guidelines. The UK Government has made clear to the Nigerian authorities at all levels that, whilst we support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, we do not condone human rights violations.

British Overseas Territories

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of enforcing marine protected areas in (a) Pitcairn and (b) Ascension Island in the next (i) five and (ii) 10 years; what level of enforcement those costs would provide; and what non-public sources of funding have been identified to date to help meet those costs.

Mr Hugo Swire: Effective monitoring and enforcement in Marine Protected Areas requires a thorough long-term investment of resources. A good estimate of full enforcement costs, which would include a patrol vessel, can be drawn from our experience in other territories, such as the British Indian Ocean Territory - for which total costs, including a patrol vessel, are £2.75m per year; or South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, where a patrol vessel alone costs approximately £3.2m per year. No non-public funding has yet been identified to meet any cost of patrol vessels in either Pitcairn or Ascension.

British Overseas Territories

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Pew Charitable Trust about the potential use of Satellite Catapult to monitor illegal fishing and to enforce marine protected areas that could be created around the UK's overseas territories.

Mr Hugo Swire: We support Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where they are scientifically justifiable, and where an effective monitoring and enforcement regime can be established and funded. Officials have discussed the monitoring of MPAs with a range of interested parties, including Pew Charitable Trust, and are aware of the Catapult system.

British Overseas Territories

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2014 to Question 218601, what progress has been made towards establishing marine protected areas in Pitcairn, Ascension and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Mr Hugo Swire: We support Marine Protected Areas where they are scientifically justifiable, and where an effective monitoring and enforcement regime can be established and funded. An MPA around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, covering the islands’ entire maritime zone was established in 2012, and its protective measures were extended in 2013. No decisions have yet been taken about designating MPAs around Pitcairn or Ascension, but we are working with both Territory Governments, and other stakeholders, to help determine the feasibility of establishing MPAs in these territories.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

UK Export Finance

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much UK Export Finance has spent on advertising in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 20 January 2015



UK Export Finance records spending on all activities associated with the promotion of UK Export Finance, including advertising, marketing, attendance at exhibitions etc, as Business Promotion or Marketing.   The table below shows the amount spent by UK Export Finance on these activities in each financial year since 2010/11. Spend has increased in recent years as UK Export Finance seeks to raise awareness of its services particularly amongst smaller businesses following the introduction of products targeted at the smaller exporter in 2011.2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15 to dateSpend (£)19,39541,91527,958377,434801,341

Property Searches

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what secondary legislation would be required, in addition to the Infrastructure Bill, in order to extend centralisation of local land charges register data to CON29 searches.

Matthew Hancock: The CON 29 service is a non-statutory service provided by local authorities. The measures in the Infrastructure Bill will only transfer responsibility for the statutory local land charges service from local authorities to Land Registry.

Exports: Government Assistance

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many firms have received financial support under the Export Refinancing Scheme to date; and on what date each such instance of support was received.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 29 January 2015



The Export Refinancing Facility (ERF) does not provide funds directly to firms but a commitment to banks funding loans to overseas buyers of UK exports to take-out that loan if it has not been possible for the bank to refinance it commercially.

Free Trade: Asia-Pacific Region

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on UK trade of plans to establish a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific.

Matthew Hancock: The proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) by member countries of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) represents the latest in a wave of potential deals covering large portions of global trade. Such deals, once concluded and implemented, would provide a stimulus not just to the countries concerned, but globally. Some of the benefits, especially from any simplification of rules and behind the border barriers, would be enjoyed by those British companies present in the region or reliant on extended supply chains. Moreover, keeping the trade liberalisation agenda moving forward is important: regional trade deals may lead to a greater willingness and ability to liberalise at a multilateral level, or bilaterally with the EU.

Business: Government Assistance

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 15 of Growth is our Business: A Strategy for Professional and Business Services, published in July 2013, how many Growth Vouchers have been (a) issued and (b) used since the launch of that scheme.

Matthew Hancock: Since the programme was launched on 27th January 2014, 12,864 small businesses have been given advice on what support they should be seeking. Of those, (a) 9,610 have been issued with a voucher to help subsidise the cost of obtaining that advice from suppliers in the private sector and as of 28th January 2015, (b) 1,600 vouchers have been redeemed. There are currently 4,300 vouchers still in circulation with up to three months for businesses to use them.

Coal Gasification

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the implementation of the recommendations on deep offshore underground coal gasification projects in the UK in the Government's 2006 study, Creating the Coalmine of the 21st century.

Matthew Hancock: There have been no such discussions.

Overseas Trade: Republic of Ireland

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value was of UK (a) exports to and (b) imports from Ireland in each year from 1985 for which data is available.

Matthew Hancock: Official (ONS) figures on UK trade in goods and services with Ireland are only available since 1999. These are shown in Table 1 below: Table 1: UK Trade in Goods and Services with Ireland, 1999-2013 £ billion, current prices YearExportsImports199913.411.2200015.312.8200117.614.7200219.815.8200317.712.9200419.813.5200523.514.0200624.414.3200726.715.6200828.716.9200925.117.0201027.417.6201128.917.6201228.718.1201326.717.5 Source: ONS Pink Book 2014

Japan Tobacco: Ballymena

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he and officials in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders in relation to the closure of the JTI Gallahers factory in Ballymena since October 2014; and what steps he has taken as a consequence of those discussions.

Matthew Hancock: Officials in UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) have been in discussion with Invest Northern Ireland over recent months. Invest Northern Ireland have held conversations with the Northern Ireland Department of Education and Learning (DEL) about skills provision for the affected workforce, and Ballymena Borough Council. The Unite union has met my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Theresa Villiers) and the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley), and has written to UK Ministers with a copy of their counter-proposal for JTI, with a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Minster responding to it on behalf of the UK Government.   Colleagues at the British Embassy in Tokyo have had contact with Invest NI since being notified by JTI of the closure. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Japan was also in Belfast the week of the announcement and met the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley) and the Northern Ireland Inward Investment team (as well as JTI UK). Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sir Simon Fraser was in Tokyo during the week commencing 2nd February 2015 and met JTI when there.

Citizens' Advice Bureaux

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from the management, staff and volunteers of Citizens Advice Bureaux on the effectiveness of Citizens Advice.

Jo Swinson: Since 2010 the Department has received a number of letters, mainly from MPs in response to issues raised by their constituents, but also from bureaux volunteers, staff and one trustee. Only on two occasions has that correspondence been about the effectiveness of the service in so far as that relates to a complaint about how an individual’s case was handled. The remaining correspondence has related to funding issues, both local authority funding, which provides core funding to bureaux, or centrally-government funded programmes such as the provision of debt advice and legal aid.   Set out in the table below is the total number of correspondence received to date:   YearNo. casesSubjectCorrespondence originator2010-2011 12  11 x local bureaux funding1x CAB involvement in Big Society5 x constituent4 x bureaux manager2 x bureaux trustee1 x MP2011-12  4  2 x local bureaux funding1 x local funding/funding of debt advice/Legal Aid1 x Consumer Landscape reforms and effect on bureaux3 x constituent1 x volunteer  2012-13 9 7 x local bureaux funding1 x local funding/funding of debt advice/Legal Aid1 x complaint about bureaux service2 x volunteer7 x constituent2013-1442 x local bureaux funding1 x funding CAB, Shelter & Age Concern1 x complaint about bureaux service4 x constituent2014-15   2   2 x support for continued provision of free advice (supporting the “Advice for the Future” campaign)2 x constituent

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Israel

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any licences have been granted to UAV Engines Ltd since 1 January 2010 for the export of UAV engines or components to (a) the Israeli Defence Force or (b) other elements of Israel’s security forces; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Katy Clark) on 10 October 2014, UIN 207373. No licences have been granted for unmanned aerial vehicle engines for use by the Israeli Defence Force or other elements of Israel’s security forces since 2010.

Apprentices: Blyth Valley

Mr Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprenticeships have been created under the Government Apprentice Scheme in Blyth Valley constituency in each month since 2010.

Nick Boles: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in Blyth Valley constituency in each month for academic years 2009/10 to 2013/14 and for 2014/15 August to October (provisional). Table 1: Apprenticeships Starts in Blyth Valley Parliamentary Constituency by Month (2009/10 to 2013/14 and 2014/15 Aug-Oct Provisional)  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15 Q1 (provisional)August60801008011080September120140210180150170October709013013090100November40901108080n/aDecember30407010040n/aJanuary40150120120110n/aFebruary6060808090n/aMarch50140110100140n/aApril3070110110100n/aMay5012014010070n/aJune40160100100120n/aJuly80190130200110n/a Source: Individualised Learner Record Notes: 1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10; n/a represents months where data are not yet available. 2) Q1 2014/15 covers August 2014 to October 2014; 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 academic years cover August to July. 3) Provisional data are subject to change and should not be compared with data from previous academic years.

Small Businesses: Glasgow

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken that benefit micro enterprises in Glasgow South West constituency.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



Small businesses are vital to our economy and our small business owners have driven this economic recovery. The Start-Up Loan Scheme has provided 18 loans, with a value of £44,515, to people starting a business in the Glasgow South West constituency.   We are committed to making Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and are doing this in a number of ways:   £10 billion of financing will be unlocked for smaller business over the next 5 years by our British Business Bank;Government grants of up to £3,000 for better internet connectivity are available to small businesses;Growth Vouchers to help companies find and pay for professional strategic advice;GREATbusiness.gov.uk brings together all Government advice, guidance and support in one place and businesses can speak to or webchat with a helpline adviser direct using the Business Support helpline;£2,000 cut from the National Insurance bills of small firms through the Employment Allowance; andBusinesses with up to fifty employees and start-ups are exempted from new regulations.

Exports: Middle East

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reason the value of extant standard individual export licences to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories fell from £7.9 billion, as stated in his letter of 12 May 2014 to the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling, to £93 million, as stated in his letter of 15 December 2014 to the same hon. Member.

Matthew Hancock: The difference is accounted for by one licence, to the value of £7.7 billion, which was surrendered unused by the exporter in August 2014 and therefore ceased to be extant.

Publications: Visual Impairment

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled before 30 March 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government supports the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.As indicated by its signature of the Marrakesh Treaty on 28 June 2013, the Government intends to ratify the Treaty and hopes to see its entry into force at the earliest opportunity. The Government is currently in preliminary discussions with other European countries regarding the extent to which common action is required to ensure a coherent ratification of the Treaty across Europe. Following these discussions, the Government intends to take the necessary steps towards rapid implementation of the Treaty.

Water Companies: Pay

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with water companies on payment of the living wage in that sector.

Jo Swinson: My Rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has not had any discussions with water companies on payment of the Living Wage.   The Government supports employers that choose to pay the Living Wage when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs. Decisions on what wages to set are for employers and workers to agree as long as employers pay at least the national minimum wage.   This Government is committed to improving living standards, particularly for the low paid and the only way to achieve a sustainable increase in living standards is to focus on economic growth, employment and cutting taxes for the low paid. This is exactly what we are doing.

Overseas Students

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department or other Ministers in her Department on the establishment of a national financial protection scheme for international students.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Students

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he last met international students' representatives to discuss issues affecting international students in the UK.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Banks

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Competition and Markets Authority is conducting an investigation into allegations of cartel behaviour by banks in (a) foreign exchange markets and (b) other capital markets.

Jo Swinson: I am unable to comment publicly on any activity the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may or may not be conducting into allegations of cartel behaviour in this area, including any intelligence it may have received or reviewed in relation to any particular allegations.   The CMA has been setup up by the Government as the UK’s independent competition authority and has extensive powers to pursue cartel and criminal behaviour. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will also obtain concurrent competition powers in financial services on 1 April 2015.   As examples of the extensive powers available to the CMA and the FCA, the FCA has publicly stated that it is currently conducting an investigation relating to trading on the foreign exchange market and in November last year issued record levels of fines on banks in relation to their activities in the foreign exchange market.

Offshore Industry

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on the domestic offshore skills base of Shell UK Ltd's decision to award Allseas Group SA the contract for decommissioning three of its Brent Field platforms on the UK Continental Shelf.

Matthew Hancock: The contract award will see around 1,000 skilled people involved in the Brent decommissioning Project offshore, including many engineers. Brent decommissioning is a huge undertaking which has already generated investment allowing construction of a new quay and upgrading of Able UK Ltd’s onshore facilities. The construction and dismantlement activity will also create 200 new jobs. It paves the way for a new generation of North Sea related work in the decades ahead. This contract and its associated experience in dealing with large scale decommissioning projects could also help establish a UK decommissioning supply chain capable of taking forward the increasing numbers of projects we see coming forward in the next few years.

Overseas Students: Fees and Charges

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the establishment of a national financial protection scheme for international students studying in the UK.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Students

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many international students applied to study in UK universities in each of the last five years.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the employment protections for staff in the offshore oil and gas sector in the event of an employer seeking to replace them with non-UK based workers on lower rates of pay.

Jo Swinson: The protections for staff in the offshore oil and gas sector in this example depend on the exact nature of their employment and the location of their work. The employment status review, announced in October, will consider whether the framework underpinning employment rights in the UK is still fit for purpose. Amongst other things, it will consider the statutory employment rights and protections available to different groups in the UK and identify areas that Ministers may wish to look at further.

Department for International Development

Conflict Pool

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department allocated to the Conflict Pool in (a) 2014-15 and (b) each of the five previous financial years.

Justine Greening: The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement and not by contributions by individual departments. This is separate from and additional to departmental budgets and is administered jointly by MOD, DFID and FCO for conflict prevention and mitigation work. The Conflict Pool has been running since 2011. DFID’s allocation from the Conflict Pool in financial year 2014/15 was £39 million.   Details of Conflict Pool allocations are provided to Parliament annually in a Written Ministerial Statement.

Department for Education

Arts: GCSE

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what change there has been in the number of pupils sitting GCSEs in (a) applied arts and design, (b) art and design, (c) drama, (d) media, film and television and (e) music since May 2010.

Mr David Laws: Information on the number of GCSE entries of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in applied art and design, art and design, drama, media, film and television, and music for the 2009/10 and 2013/14 academic years is provided in the following table. This information is published in the ‘Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2013 to 2014’ Statistical First Release.[1]GCSE entries[2] 2009/102013/14   Applied art and design[3]-856Art and design169,298171,076Drama80,76570,984Media, film and television58,58651,328Music45,43342,449Source: Key Stage 4 attainment data[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2013-to-2014, ‘Subject time series tables: SFR02/2015’ document.[2] 2013/14 figures are revised, 2009/10 are final.[3] There were no GCSE entries in applied art and design in 2009/10 as the operational start date for this GCSE was September 2009. There were 1,476 GCSE entries in applied art and design in 2010/11.

Children's Centres: Leeds

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres and children's centres there were in (a) Leeds and (b) Leeds Central constituency on 1 January in each year since the introduction of those centres.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Leeds local authority began designating children’s centres in 2003 and reached 58 designated children’s centres by the end of 2009. Since then, the number of main children’s centres has reduced by 4 (though they have ceased to be children’s centres, the sites have remained open as additional sites). [1]There have been no further changes to this arrangement since November 2012 and as of 1 January 2015 there were 54 main children’s centres and 4 additional sites in Leeds local authority.[1] Additional sites are places open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network. They were formerly children's centres in their own right and, while they no longer meet the statutory definition of a children’s centre, they remain open offering access to some of the early childhood services on behalf of another children's centre.

Nurseries: First Aid

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce compulsory paediatric first aid training for all nursery staff.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Paediatric first aid training is, and will remain, a statutory requirement for all providers regulated in England under the Childcare Act 2006. The requirements for early years providers, including nurseries are set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). [1] Following the commitments I made in the debate on paediatric first aid, I am reviewing the requirements in EYFS and drafting new guidance on this matter.  [1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2

School Meals

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to schools on ensuring that food provided at breakfast clubs and after school clubs is healthy and nutritious.

Mr David Laws: The new school food standards which came into effect on 1 January 2015 define the foods and drinks that must be provided to pupils, those which are restricted, and those which must not be provided at all. They apply to all food and drink provided on and off school premises during an extended school day up to 6pm, including school trips, breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning break, vending machines and after school clubs.   Full details of permitted foods are available in the school food regulations at:www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made Departmental advice is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england

Grammar Schools: Admissions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2015 to Question 220222, and with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2011, Official Report, column 289, on grammar schools: disadvantaged, for what reason the information requested would incur disproportionate cost for the years 2010 to 2013.

Mr David Laws: The answer to Question 220222 provided the requested data for 2014. That answer required new analysis of data from the school census and the national pupil database on cohort level characteristics at all selective schools and across all state-funded mainstream schools. The disproportionate cost threshold for Parliamentary Questions is set at £850 per question. When estimating the cost of answering a question, the Department for Education considers the grade of each official involved and the time they will spend on it. Using the time taken to calculate the statistics provided for 2014 as a basis, officials estimated that to also provide the statistics for the earlier years requested would result in the threshold being exceeded.

Grammar Schools: Admissions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children (a) in receipt of free school meals, (b) with a statement of special educational needs, (c) from a BME community and (d) looked after by a local authority received a place in a grammar school in January 2012.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold information on pupils who received a place at a state-funded selective school but does hold information on the number of pupils enrolled in year 7 in state-funded selective schools in January each year. The figures for January 2012 are given in the table below.   Year 7 pupils in state-funded mainstream schools in England, January 2012  Number of pupilsOf which, percentage enrolled at state-funded selective schoolsAll pupils536,1454.1%(a) Pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals96,3100.7%(b) Pupils with statements of special educational needs10,9850.6%(c) Pupils from a black or minority ethnic group129,7005.2%(d) Pupils who were looked after for at least 12 months in the year ending 31 March 20121,9250.7% Source: School census and national pupil database Notes: Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations.Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.A small number of looked after children records collected from local authorities could not be matched to pupil records in the school census.These figures exclude:pupils who received an offer of a place which was not taken up;pupils who enrolled in state-funded selective schools, but left the school roll before the school census day in January; andselective schools which do not have pupils in year 7.

Grammar Schools: Admissions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children (a) in receipt of free school meals, (b) with a statement of special educational needs, (c) from a BME community and (d) looked after by a local authority received a place in a grammar school in January 2010.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold information on pupils who received a place at a state-funded selective school but does hold information on the number of pupils enrolled in year 7 in state-funded selective schools in January each year. The figures for January 2010 are given in the table below.   Year 7 pupils in state-funded mainstream schools in England, January 2010  Number of pupilsOf which, percentage enrolled at state-funded selective schoolsAll pupils554,0704.0%(a) Pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals97,2000.6%(b) Pupils with statements of special educational needs11,4650.6%(c) Pupils from a black or minority ethnic group123,0955.0%(d) Pupils who were looked after for at least 12 months in the year ending 31 March 20101,9350.6% Source: School census and national pupil database Notes: Includes pupils who are sole registrations (for consistency with published statistics for this year).Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.A small number of looked after children records collected from local authorities could not be matched to pupil records in the school census.These figures exclude: pupils who received an offer of a place which was not taken up;pupils who enrolled in state-funded selective schools, but left the school roll before the school census day in January; andselective schools which do not have pupils in year 7.

Grammar Schools: Admissions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children (a) in receipt of free school meals, (b) with a statement of special educational needs, (c) from a BME community and (d) looked after by a local authority received a place in a grammar school in January 2013.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold information on pupils who received a place at a state-funded selective school but does hold information on the number of pupils enrolled in year 7 in state-funded selective schools in January each year. The figures for January 2013 are given in the table below.   Year 7 pupils in state-funded mainstream schools in England, January 2013  Number of pupilsOf which, percentage enrolled at state-funded selective schoolsAll pupils526,1904.2%(a) Pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals94,5050.7%(b) Pupils with statements of special educational needs10,5600.5%(c) Pupils from a black or minority ethnic group132,3505.3%(d) Pupils who were looked after for at least 12 months in the year ending 31 March 20132,1150.6% Source: School census and national pupil database   Notes: Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations.Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.A small number of looked after children records collected from local authorities could not be matched to pupil records in the school census.These figures exclude:pupils who received an offer of a place which was not taken up;pupils who enrolled in state-funded selective schools, but left the school roll before the school census day in January; andselective schools which do not have pupils in year 7.

Grammar Schools: Admissions

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children (a) in receipt of free school meals, (b) with a statement of special educational needs, (c) from a BME community and (d) looked after by a local authority received a place in a grammar school in January 2011.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold information on pupils who received a place at a state-funded selective school but does hold information on the number of pupils enrolled in year 7 in state-funded selective schools in January each year. The figures for January 2011 are given in the table below.   Year 7 pupils in state-funded mainstream schools in England, January 2011  Number of pupilsOf which, percentage enrolled at state-funded selective schoolsAll pupils549,3504.0%(a) Pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals96,8100.6%(b) Pupils with statements of special educational needs11,4450.5%(c) Pupils from a black or minority ethnic group125,9555.1%(d) Pupils who were looked after for at least 12 months in the year ending 31 March 20112,0551.0% Source: Matched school census/national pupil database Notes: Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations.Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.A small number of looked after children records collected from local authorities could not be matched to pupil records in the school census.These figures exclude: pupils who received an offer of a place which was not taken up;pupils who enrolled in state-funded selective schools, but left the school roll before the school census day in January; andselective schools which do not have pupils in year 7.

Transport: Young People

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on local authorities of planned policies to extend the rules governing transport for children in full-time education or undertaking an apprenticeship to 16 to 18 year olds.

Mr David Laws: There are no planned policies to extend the rules governing school transport for children of compulsory school age to cover students in post-16 education or training.   The statutory responsibility for transport to education or training for 16- to-18-year-olds rests with local authorities, who are expected to make appropriate decisions bearing in mind local circumstances. Arrangements made by authorities do not have to include free or subsidised transport, although most young people do have access to a discount or concession on local bus or train travel, either from their local authority, transport provider, school or college.

Schools: Admissions

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the Schools Admissions Code precludes admissions authorities from taking into account how long a child has been on the waiting list for a school place.

Mr David Laws: The School Admissions Code requires that all school places, including those offered to pupils on a school’s waiting list, are allocated strictly in accordance with a school’s published admissions criteria. This ensures fairness and transparency in the process and means that those applying for admission to a school understand from the outset their likelihood of gaining a place. It also means that there is no incentive for those who do not closely match a school’s admissions criteria, to remain on a waiting list while occupying a place at an alternative school.

Schools: Admissions

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new (a) primary and (b) secondary school places have been created in each parliamentary constituency since 2010.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education collects information from local authorities on the number of school places in state-funded primary and secondary schools as part of the annual School Capacity Collection. The most recent data available relates to the position at May 2013 and is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2012-to-2013 Equivalent data for 2010 can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-capacity-2009-to-2010-final Data to May 2014 will become available shortly.   A comparison of the position in 2010 and 2013, showing the net change in capacity, is given in the table below. Positive figures indicate an overall increase in places; negative figures indicate an overall decrease in places. A decrease in places can be the consequence of actions to address oversupply and remove unsuitable place provision, or of restructuring the school system. Figures for local authorities that have restructured middle school provision or introduced all-through provision between 2010 and 2013 must be compared with caution. The Department does not collect capacity data at constituency level; Basingstoke constituency lies within Hampshire local authority.  (a)Change in number of places in primary schools (including all through and middle-deemed primary schools)2010 to 2013(b)Change in number of places in secondary schools (including all-through and middle deemed secondary schools)2010 to 2013Barking and Dagenham6,5382,567Barnet2,4491,190Barnsley-248-380Bath and North East Somerset282599Bedford1,595862Bexley1,683529Birmingham10,0286,545Blackburn with Darwen492407Blackpool20824Bolton2,584823Bournemouth1,0751,513Bracknell Forest807112Bradford5,077817Brent2,7682,465Brighton and Hove1,721566Bristol, City of2,7741,855Bromley1,2661,416Buckinghamshire5001,412Bury-63619Calderdale3681,409Cambridgeshire3,527312Camden2351,485Central Bedfordshire3161,267Cheshire East-1061,791Cheshire West and Chester1,121450City of London0.Cornwall535128Coventry3,333817Croydon3,1231,816Cumbria755493Darlington1892Derby1861,222Derbyshire994-58Devon3,4931,473Doncaster56044Dorset-281634Dudley167Durham1,145-545Ealing2,7751,596East Riding of Yorkshire-79503East Sussex141-546Enfield4,49186Essex1,040-48Gateshead69287Gloucestershire1,048-405Greenwich1,908-788Hackney1,0304,493Halton-3602,049Hammersmith and Fulham1,4331,597Hampshire1,286-881Haringey1,297146Harrow-2,1995,672Hartlepool584-205Havering400840Herefordshire-368-210Hertfordshire5,8893,288Hillingdon1,3521,685Hounslow2,2631,403Isle of Wight2,868-4,254Isles of Scilly20.Islington7-299Kensington and Chelsea441-108Kent2,1895,952Kingston Upon Hull, City of7891,938Kingston upon Thames2,52964Kirklees1,669-313Knowsley-1,460-822Lambeth1,913-563Lancashire681322Leeds5,0741,973Leicester1,600-1,810Leicestershire-6231,677Lewisham2,836-10Lincolnshire231865Liverpool586-3,020Luton2,636162Manchester5,2842,944Medway119233Merton1,576-2Middlesbrough-86-755Milton Keynes1,452648Newcastle upon Tyne106-83Newham2,5341,355Norfolk322-81North East Lincolnshire824-2,443North Lincolnshire396-1,067North Somerset1,585319North Tyneside48428North Yorkshire-905-73Northamptonshire1,6761,923Northumberland803-2,437Nottingham9411,722Nottinghamshire1,517453Oldham649-502Oxfordshire3,5601,863Peterborough1,622478Plymouth1,640526Poole300336Portsmouth22736Reading973113Redbridge3,3233,285Redcar and Cleveland280-467Richmond upon Thames1,986228Rochdale1,076-1,480Rotherham550143Rutland-275393Salford641-294Sandwell1,0071,212Sefton-626-1,674Sheffield2,086-328Shropshire-2,468188Slough3,154340Solihull-159371Somerset-61,023South Gloucestershire-553-154South Tyneside-428-337Southampton2,079240Southend-on-Sea522982Southwark1,926-475St. Helens432-42Staffordshire1,0641,170Stockport300-666Stockton-on-Tees532-570Stoke-on-Trent2,417-824Suffolk5,635-5,637Sunderland-111565Surrey4,1771,230Sutton1,3021,016Swindon2,434837Tameside1,102-15Telford and Wrekin9241,698Thurrock1,9481,922Torbay18-513Tower Hamlets2,405908Trafford786923Wakefield20411Walsall272320Waltham Forest2,291-145Wandsworth1,534-863Warrington-16-453Warwickshire1,538810West Berkshire181232West Sussex3,4441,897Westminster-94684Wigan577-1,124Wiltshire9101,847Windsor and Maidenhead1,079476Wirral-155-1,425Wokingham7781,050Wolverhampton-283-453Worcestershire338803York424320ENGLAND188,68174,183 Source: School Capacity Survey 2010 and 2013

Teachers: Recruitment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the advertising budget is for her Department's Your Future Their Future campaign; and how much her Department has spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising in that campaign in the last two years.

Mr David Laws: The advertising budget relating to the ‘Your Future Their Future’ campaign, launched in September 2014, is £3.92 million. Of this total, £1.54 million has been spent to date (between 1 September 2014 and 31 January 2015) on:   Advertising channelSpend(a) Television£0(b) Newspaper£340,000(c) Online£810,000(d) Radio£0(e) Other£390,000

Children: Day Care

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the advertising budget is for her Department's campaign to promote free childcare; and how much her Department has spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising mentioning free childcare in the last two years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not have a dedicated advertising budget for free childcare. In the past two years the Department has spent c£1.13 million net from the Early Years programme budget to promote the new funded childcare entitlement for two-year-olds. This has included: a) £0; b) £100,000 net on newspaper advertising; c) £40,000 net on online channels; d) c£99,000 net on radio; and, e) c£886,000 net on other forms of advertising (this includes £647,000 for supermarket advertising).

Teachers: Recruitment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the advertising budget is for her Department's Get into Teaching campaign; and how much her Department has spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the phrase Get into Teaching.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education does not run a campaign titled ‘Get into Teaching’ and there is no associated budget. ‘Get into Teaching’ is a phrase used within some ‘Your Future | Their Future’ marketing materials; information on the current ‘Your Future | Their Future’ advertising has been supplied in relation to PQ 223485.

Science: Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the advertising budget is for her Department's Your Life campaign; and how much her Department has spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the phrase Your Life.

Mr David Laws: The total spend by the Department for Education on activity relating to advertising the Your Life Campaign is as follows:   Advertising activityCost (£)Television0.00Newspaper0.00Online (eg social media)91,000.00Publicity material (eg posters)146,650.00Creative/production costs100,000.00Radio0.00Total337,650.00

Physical Education: Teachers

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers held the status of specialist primary school physical education teacher in each of the last two years.

Mr David Laws: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Sandy Upper School

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she or a Minister in her Department will pay a visit to Sandy Upper School, Bedfordshire.

Mr Nick Gibb: My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and my noble Friend the Lord Nash met the headteacher and chair of governors of Sandy Upper School, together with my hon. Friend in December 2014. They were pleased to note the rapid improvement in standards at the school.

Ofsted

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend the information on the government website relating to complaints about Ofsted inspection reports to remove the reference to the fact that people who are unhappy with a review by the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted can also complain to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Mr David Laws: It would not be appropriate to amend the Government website as suggested as it is for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to decide whether or not a complaint falls within its remit.

Class Sizes: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many classes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Blackpool South constituency reported having class sizes in excess of 30 pupils in (i) January 2015 and (ii) May 2010; and what those numbers represent as a proportion of the total number.

Mr David Laws: Data is not yet available for January 2015, or specifically for May 2010, so January 2014 and January 2010 have been given as the closest alternative dates to these.   In January 2010, there were 33 primary school classes and two secondary school classes in excess of 30 pupils in Blackpool South constituency. That represents 15.3% and 1.4% respectively of the total number of classes.   In January 2014, there were 19 primary school classes and six secondary school classes in excess of 30 pupils in the constituency. That represents 8.4% and 4.8% respectively of the total number of classes.   Data for January 2015 is currently being collected and processed and will be available in June 2015. Data on class sizes is collected as part of the January school census. This means that data specifically for May 2010 is not available and the figures for January 2010 have been provided.

Schools: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children entering secondary school were unable to enter their first-choice school in Blackpool South constituency in the (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2009-10 academic year; and what those numbers represent as a proportion of the total number.

Mr David Laws: School preference data is only available at local authority level for both of the specified academic years. The figures for Blackpool local authority are given below.   In 2009-10, 59 applications made by parents of applicants in Blackpool for secondary school places were not offered their first choice school. This represents 4.0% of applications. The 2009-10 data is published online at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/ssa012009v2pdf.pdf   In 2014-15, 207 of applications made by parents of applicants in Blackpool for secondary school places were not offered their first choice school. This represents 14.9% of applications. The 2014-15 data is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/secondary-and-primary-school-applications-and-offers-2014

Teachers: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people without a QTS qualification or not working towards a QTS qualification were employed as teachers in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Blackpool South constituency in (i) January 2015 and (ii) May 2010; and what those numbers represent as a proportion of the total number.

Mr David Laws: The following table provides the head count number and percentage of teachers without qualified teacher status (QTS) in service in publicly funded primary and secondary schools in Blackpool South constituency and England in November 2013 and November 2010. The information is from the School Workforce Census which takes place in November each year. Information for November 2013 is the latest available.Primary[1]SecondaryNovember 2013  Teachers without QTS in Blackpool South constituency0-of which are on route to QTS0-% all teachers without QTS in Blackpool South constituency0.00.5% teachers without QTS in England2.45.2   November 2010  Teachers without QTS in Blackpool South constituency-0of which are on route to QTS-0% all teachers without QTS in Blackpool South constituency0.50.0% teachers without QTS in England2.45.4 Source: School Workforce Census  [1] Includes local authority maintained nursery schools.‘-‘ Fewer than 5 teachers.

Free School Meals: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students qualified for free school meals in schools in Blackpool South constituency in the (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2009-10 academic year; and what these numbers represent as a proportion of the total number.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education routinely collects information on pupils who are both eligible for and claiming free school meals. Information on the number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals but not claiming them is not routinely collected.   The most recent information on the number and proportion of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals relates to the 2013/14 academic year, which is published in the ‘School, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014’ Statistical First Release. [1] Tables 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d provide local authority figures; parliamentary constituency level information is not published.   Information for the 2009/10 academic year is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2010’ Statistical First Release.[2] Tables 11a, 11b and 11c provide local authority figures; parliamentary constituency level information is not published.   The figures for both years are given below:   Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals: Blackpool local authorityState-funded nursery and primary schools (1)(2) State-funded secondary schools (3)(4) Special schools (5) January 2010Total number of pupils (6)10,771 7,791 242  Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (6)3,228 1,769 112  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals30.0 22.7 46.3  January 2014Total number of pupils (6)11,047 7,038 259  Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (6)3,179 1,852 121  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals28.8 26.3 46.7 Source: School Census  1. Includes state-funded nursery schools, direct grant nursery (the single institution of this type had not been included in this table in recent years) and middle/all through schools as deemed.  2. Includes all primary academies, including free schools. 3. Includes middle/all through schools as deemed. 4. Includes city technology colleges and all secondary academies, including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools.   5. Excludes general hospital schools. Includes non-maintained special schools, special academies and special free schools.6. Pupils who have full time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or pupils who have part time attendance and are aged between 5 and 15.   [1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014[2] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2010

GCSE: Blackpool

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in schools under the control of Blackpool Education Authority in Blackpool South constituency received five GCSEs Grade A* to C including mathematics and English in the (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2009-10 academic year; and what those numbers represent as a proportion of the total number.

Mr David Laws: GCSE attainment figures for the academic year 2014/15 are not yet available. Figures for the 2013/14 academic year were published in January 2015. Attainment at constituency and local authority level are only published for all state funded schools including academies and city technical colleges. Further school type breakdowns below national level are not published. The latest publication including constituency figures can be found in the GCSE statistics series on GOV.UK.[1] Figures for Blackpool South parliamentary constituency in 2009/10 were published in the In Your Area website.[2] Figures for the number of pupils in state-funded schools in Blackpool South constituency who achieved five or more A* - C grades including English and mathematics GCSEs in the academic years 2013/14 and 2009/10 can be found in the following table, with figures for Blackpool local authority and England as comparators. Achievements at GCSE and equivalent for pupils1 at the end of key stage 4 in Blackpool local authority and in England   Years: 2009/10 to 2013/14 (revised)2,3,4   Coverage: England, state-funded schools (including academies and CTCs) Warning: 2013/14 figures not comparable to earlier years  Number of eligible pupils1 Number achieving 5+ A*-C grades inc. English and mathematics GCSEs% achieving 5+ A*-C grades inc. English and mathematics GCSEs2013/14 Blackpool LA1,44063344.0 National556,002315,87356.82009/10 Blackpool LA1,60776847.8 National575,970318,72055.3Source: National pupil database (2009/10) and key stage 4 attainment data (2013/14) 1. Pupils at the end of key stage 4 in each academic year.2. Figures for 2009/10 are based on final data. Figures for 2013/14 are based on revised data.3. New 2014 methodology applied to 2013/14 data (see SFR main text).4. In 2013/14, two major reforms were implemented which affect the calculation of key stage 4 performance measures data: Professor Alison Wolf’s Review of Vocational Education recommendations and an early entry policy to only count a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification. Consequently, It is not possible to directly compare 2013/14 figures with earlier years.[1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2014[2] www.education.gov.uk/inyourarea/index.shtml

Ministry of Justice

Domestic Violence: Legal Aid Scheme

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse access legal aid for family cases.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Legal aid in England and Wales is available to victims of domestic violence where they need it to help break free from the abusive relationship. Access to legal aid for protective injunctions to prevent domestic violence remains identical to that prior to the legal aid reforms. These matters continue to be funded without the need for evidence. In private family law cases (such as child or financial arrangements) legal aid continues to be available where there is evidence of domestic violence or child abuse - the list of acceptable evidence is wide and comprehensive. In a recent judgment, the High Court found that the domestic violence evidential requirements are lawful and reflect the intention of Parliament in providing legal aid for those victims of domestic violence who require assistance because they will be intimidated or materially disadvantaged by having to face their abuser in court.

Prisoners' Release

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released from prison on a Friday in each of the most recent five years for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous: The information requested is shown in the table below in respect of releases from determinate sentences.  Number of releases from determinate sentences(1) on Fridays, 2010 to September 2014 20102011201220132014 Q1-Q3All releases89,66685,54085,52578,74854,502Of which were on a Friday30,81329,87730,39727,55719,5271) Not inclusive of releases from remand or from indeterminate sentences.  Data Sources and Quality: The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing   Prisoners are released either once they reach their automatic release date – that is, when they have a statutory entitlement to be released – or on a discretionary basis either by the Parole Board, the Secretary of State or by prison governors (if being released early on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)). If a prisoner has an automatic release date that falls on a weekend or Bank Holiday, they are released on the Friday before. It would be unlawful to hold them beyond the date on which they have a statutory entitlement to be free, so for that reason they are released on the first working day immediately preceding their release date. The exception to this is prisoners serving very short sentences – of less than 5 days – where there is specific statutory provision for them to be released on a Saturday if their release date falls on a weekend.

Court Orders: Compensation

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many orders for compensation for victims were made in courts in North Wales in the last three years for which information is available.

Mike Penning: Hardworking taxpayers deserve to know that criminals will pay. The courts continue to maintain strong performance levels with more than £518 million in financial impositions collected from offenders in 2013 and an increase of £28 million in Victim Surcharge, providing support to victims of crime and their families.The number of offenders ordered to pay compensation, by police force area, in North Wales, from 2011 to 2013 (the latest available) can be viewed in the table below.  Number of offenders ordered to pay compensation, in North Wales, 2011-2013(1)(2)(3)(4)Year 201120122013Total Compensation orders 1,8271,6951,617 (1) Including compensation orders given as secondary disposals for principal offences. (2) The above figures include compensation order for all offences, excluding summary motoring offences.   (3) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answers of 2 February 2015 to Questions 221907 and 221908 if he will review the provision of legal aid to potential victims of human trafficking in advance of their referral to the UK national referral mechanism.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Provision of legal aid to victims of human trafficking in immigration matters is an exception to the general removal of immigration matters from the scope of civil legal aid, and one that we have extended to all victims of modern slavery through the Modern Slavery Bill. Applicants are required to have engaged in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) process, which also provides specialist accommodation and support, to the point that a positive reasonable grounds or conclusive determination has been made, in order to ensure that limited resources are made available in the cases parliament identified as justifying public support. A review of the NRM, published in November 2014, recommended a range of changes to the current system including changes to align the referral process and the reasonable grounds decision. The point of access to legal aid will be considered as part of our wider consideration and piloting of the NRM review recommendations.

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Questions 221878, 221879 and 221883, and with reference to his statement in those answers that figures in relation to the number of civil claims brought by victims of trafficking and damages awarded are not available, what the evidential basis is for his assessment that the remedies available to victims of trafficking under the civil law of tort are adequate and effective.

Mike Penning: As explained in my Answer of 2 February, both aggravated and exemplary damages are available under the civil law of tort in addition to compensatory damages. The courts are extremely familiar with these remedies and we are confident that such awards will be made wherever appropriate in claims relating to human trafficking.

Church Commissioners

Churches: Repairs and Maintenance

Andrew George: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2015 to Question 222329, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful claims have been made by parochial church councils in court against lay rectors for recovery of chancel repair liability from 1 January 1985; and what amount was recovered.

Sir Tony Baldry: I refer to the answer I gave to Written Question 222328. Each Parochial Church Council is an independent legal entity and no central record is kept relating to the number of claims made against lay rectors for the recovery of chancel repair liability as this is dealt with at a local parish level. The Church Commissioners are only aware of the case where the Parochial Church Council of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley was awarded £187,000 plus VAT.

Ministry of Defence

Libya

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there were independent, non-governmental members of the team that conducted his Department's review of Libyan general purpose training; whether the review team interviewed representatives of local government, local police, health services and residents who had contact with Libyan trainees and victims; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 15 January 2015



The report into General Purpose Force training was written by two senior civil servants, one from the Ministry of Defence and one from another Government Department to provide an additional element of independence and challenge. Neither was involved in the conduct of the training. They met representatives from Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and the local MP, my right hon. Friend the member for South Cambridgeshire (Andrew Lansley) as representatives of the local community, and Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

Type 45 Destroyers

Sir Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department has spent on the Type 45 programme in each of the last four financial years; and what the projected spend is on that programme in each of the next four financial years.

Mr Philip Dunne: The total spent on the Type 45 programme in each of the last four financial years is shown in the table below. This includes costs of the Type 45 build programme and the in-service support of the six ships. I am withholding information on the projected spend over the next four financial years as we are negotiating a contract for future support, and its release would therefore prejudice the commercial interests of the Department.  Financial Year (FY)2010-11£ million FY2011-12FY2012-13 FY2013-14 Total281237167104789

Katrice Lee

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress the Royal Military Police have made in respect of Operation BUTE; and on what date he expects that investigation to conclude.

Anna Soubry: The Royal Military Police continue to investigate Katrice Lee's disappearance from Paderborn in Germany in 1981. Over 11,500 documents have been registered onto the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System. Each of these documents is being reviewed, and over 2,000 investigative actions have so far been generated and followed up. The Royal Military Police are working hard to eliminate persons of interest. As the investigation is still under way, I cannot comment any further on precise details, including when it might be completed. However, Royal Military Police Liaison Officers remain in contact with Katrice's family to ensure that they are kept fully informed of developments.

Armed Forces: Qualifications

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether military personnel are permitted to sit or re-sit GCSEs once their initial training has come to an end.

Anna Soubry: Members of the Armed Forces can sit, or re-sit, a GCSE at any point in their career, provided they do so through a recognised examination centre. Service Education centres are able to provide this facility free of charge in the UK and when serving overseas.Where Service personnel choose to sit examinations at an external Examination Centre, for example where the examination is not offered by their Service Education Centre, financial support is provided through the Standard Learning Credit Scheme which allows Service personnel to claim 80% of course and examination fees (including GCSEs), up to a maximum of £175 per financial year. Standard Learning Credits are unable to be used for an examination resit only, as a course of instruction must be included.Military personnel are also entitled to use Colleges of Further Education to attend a variety of education courses and to take examinations and resits, subject to payment of the appropriate fees.

Military Corrective Training Centre Colchester

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether detainees aged under 18 years are accommodated separately from adults at the Military Corrective Training Centre.

Anna Soubry: Detainees aged 16 years are always accommodated separately from adults.Detainees aged 17 years may be accommodated with older detainees, but only if this is their stated wish. In that event, the decision is subject to a detailed risk assessment.Over the 12 months to 31 December 2014, there were no detainees aged 16 years and two detainees aged 17 years held at the Military Corrective Training Centre.

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2014 to Question 213663, when he plans to announce which of the 5,000 ships under construction will be designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

Anna Soubry: The Department is currently planning to make a decision on the next tranche of ships to be designated under the Act by the end of 2015.

Islamic State

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) scale and (b) result is of recent air operations against ISIL.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



There are some 60 nations involved in the coalition and over a dozen in ongoing air activity over Iraq and Syria. The UK has deployed two types of armed aircraft in the operation against ISIL; the Tornado GR4 and the Reaper, Remotely Piloted Air System. As at 31 January 2015, these aircraft have flown 392 missions and released 206 weapons against ISIL targets. The UK have also provided other aircraft to perform surveillance, air refuelling and air transport roles. In concert with Iraqi and Kurdish ground units, coalition air activities have helped to check ISIL's advance and in some places begun to reverse that advance.

Burma

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of providing training courses for the Burmese Army to date; and what funding for that purpose has been allocated for (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



To date, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent £105,905 on Defence Education activity with Burma. The MOD's allocated funding for financial year 2014-15 is £139,530 whilst funding for financial year 2015-16 is still under review.

Conflict Pool

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department allocated to the Conflict Pool in (a) 2014-15 and (b) each of the five previous financial years.

Mr Mark Francois: The Conflict Pool is funded from a Treasury settlement which is separate from and additional to Departmental budgets. It is administered jointly by the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for conflict prevention and mitigation work.

RAF Waddington

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the Armed Forces' annual personnel training requirements will be provided at the Air Battlespace Training Centre at RAF Waddington.

Mr Mark Francois: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

RAF Waddington

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Armed Forces will participate in training at the Air Battlespace Training Centre at RAF Waddington each year.

Mr Mark Francois: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The daily maximum capacity of the Air Battlespace Training Centre (ABTC) is dependent on the type of exercise taking place. Records on the exact numbers of personnel attending training are held by individual units and not by the ABTC.

Hercules Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many C-130J aircraft are having external fuel tanks installed; what estimate he has made of the cost of that installation; and what the new range is of the aircraft without air-to-air refuelling.

Mr Philip Dunne: External fuel tanks have been installed in nine C-130J aircraft at a cost of around £7 million. In addition to the advantage gained by an increased air-to-air refuelling capacity, the fitment of external fuel tanks has extended the range of the C-130J aircraft to around 3,000 nautical miles.

Canada

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of repairing Voyager KC2 ZZ331 after its collision with a hangar at St. John's International Airport; and what the cause of the collision was.

Mr Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given, in the House of Lords, on 28 January 2015 to Question HL4147 by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence (Lord Astor of Hever) to the noble Lord, Lord Moonie.



Hansard Reference 28 January 2015
(Word Document, 31.5 KB)

Air Force: Deployment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether personnel serving in the Seedcorn programme have had deployment with foreign armed forces extended.

Mr Mark Francois: Yes, a number of short-term post extensions, varying from three to fifteen months, were agreed in 2013 and 2014.

Armed Forces: Young People

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what measures are in place to ensure that the parents or legal guardians of armed forces recruits aged under 18 are fully informed of the nature of enlistment into military service before they grant consent to enlistment.

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether armed forces recruiting staff are required to meet in person the parents or legal guardians of potential recruits aged under 18, before consent to enlistment is granted.

Mr Julian Brazier: It is Ministry of Defence policy that all three Services must obtain the written consent of a parent or guardian for candidates under the age of 18 before an application to join the Armed Forces can be processed. Thereafter, proof of consent is checked at different points during the application process before a young person can enlist. Where a parent or guardian wishes to meet recruiting staff, they are given the opportunity to do so. Recruiting staff are required to ensure that all candidates under the age of 18 and their parents or guardians have access to a full explanation of the terms and conditions of service during the application process and before entry into the Armed Forces.

United Nations: Military Decorations

Sir Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221266, whether UK Armed Forces who served with the British Detachment in Sarajevo during the qualifying period are eligible to receive the UN Special Service medal in addition to their UN Bosnia medal.

Sir Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221266, for what reasons applications to receive the UN Special Service medal can only be made within 12 months of leaving theatre.

Sir Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221266, what steps his Department took to inform all those members of the UK Armed Forces who served with the British Detachment in Sarajevo during the qualifying period of their eligibility to receive the medal, including those who had left the Armed Forces.

Anna Soubry: UK Service personnel were not additionally eligible for the UNPROFOR Medal, the United Nations Special Service Medal, the NATO Medal, or the WEU Mission Service Medal in respect of the same period of operational service. Permission to accept and wear more than one of these medals will have been granted only when each period of qualifying service could be clearly differentiated. Concurrent qualification was not admissible. Applications to receive the UN Special Service medal within 12 months of leaving theatre was a directive issued by the United Nations, to which the UK was obliged to adhere.   Information regarding eligibility to receive the medal in recognition of Service with the British Detachment in Sarajevo was originally promulgated to Armed Forces personnel and Ministry of Defence staff through Defence Council Instructions. This was the usual method of issuing instructions and guidance pertaining to medals at that time. For those who had already left service, information was available from their relevant medal office or Regimental Association.

Armed Forces: Housing

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reports he has received of the current situation regarding the TUPE rights of employees from Babcock Dyncorp to Carillion Amey following the end of the contract on 2 February 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: TUPE is an issue for the two companies concerned and the Ministry of Defence has no liability.

Veterans: Postgraduate Education

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department offers to service leavers seeking to undertake postgraduate study.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence promotes lifelong learning among members of the Armed Forces, and encourages this through the Learning Credits scheme.The Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) scheme provides help towards the cost of higher-level learning and is funded by the single Services. Eligible personnel make a personal contribution of 20% of total course fees and can receive a single payment, in each of a maximum of three separate financial years, of up to £1,000 or £2,000 (depending on qualifying scheme membership) to cover up to a maximum of 80% of course fees. The ELC scheme helps members of the Armed Forces to pursue their personal development, both during their Service and for up to ten years afterwards, subject to the qualifying criteria being met.ELC claims must be for a course of study that is an integral part of, and results in, the cost effective achievement of a nationally recognised qualification at Level 3 (A level and equivalent) and above as defined by the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) (England and Wales), a Level 6 or above on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) or, if pursued overseas, an approved international equivalent higher level qualification. Post graduate level qualifications would thus be admissible, providing that they are nationally recognised as such.

NHS: Armed Forces

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) civil contingency reaction forces and (b) any other members of the armed forces have been deployed to provide support to the NHS in winter 2014-15.

Mr Mark Francois: The Armed Forces have provided assistance to the NHS on two occasions during industrial action in 2014-15, under Military Aid to Civil Authorities (MACA) principles.On 13 October 2014, military personnel assisted the London Ambulance Service in driving, navigating and call-handling duties; military drivers were also provided to the North West Ambulance Service.On 24 November 2014, military personnel assisted London Ambulance Service in driving and navigating duties.

Department for Work and Pensions

Self-employed: Females

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average weekly earnings were for self-employed women in each year since 2002-03.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 22 January 2015



 Table 1: estimated median weekly income (£) from self-employment of women from 2002/03 to 2012/13. These figures cover a period that includes the deepest recession since the 1930s and the initial recovery from a large fall in national income. In the period since 2012/13 the economic recovery has picked up speed, with GDP in 2014 up by 2.6% on the previous year, while the number of people in work increased by more than half a million in the year to November 2014.  Self-employed women2002/031472003/041502004/051432005/061402006/071592007/081342008/091432009/101372010/111252011/121342012/13120 Source: Family Resources SurveyNotes:Figures have been adjusted to 2012/13 prices using RPI and are rounded to the nearest pound (£).2. Self-employment is defined using the ILO definition.3. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of UK households.4. The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to former Government Office Region population by age and sex. Estimates based on survey data are subject to uncertainty due to sampling error and remaining non-response error.Median self-employment income divides the number of people, when ranked by self-employment income, into two equal-sized groups.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many residents of the British Overseas Territories in receipt of UK state pensions have had those pensions frozen.

Steve Webb: There are 14 British Overseas Territories: Anguilla; Bermuda; the British Antarctic Territory; the British Indian Ocean Territory; the British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; the Pitcairn Islands; St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus (Akrotiri and Dhekelia); and the Turks and Caicos Islands.Information on the Overseas Territories in which UK state pensions are paid and the number of cases in payment is available at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/sp/cccountry/cnage/a_carate_r_cccountry_c_cnage_may14.htmlThe tabulation tool distinguishes between those countries where the state pension is up-rated and those countries where the state pension is ‘frozen’. Up-rated state pensions are payable to people living in Bermuda, Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus. However it is possible that in some cases state pensions paid in countries where the state pension is ‘frozen’ will be up-rated, for example when someone is only visiting the Territory.

Health and Safety Executive

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many invoices issued under the Health and Safety Executive's Fee for Intervention scheme have been queried by invoicees since October 2012; and what proportion of the total number of invoices such invoices amount to.

Mr Mark Harper: Between October 2012 and December 2014, HSE issued 32, 862 invoices under the FFI scheme. HSE received queries on 1008 invoices between October 2012 and 2 February 2015. This represents 3% of all the invoices issued.

Health and Safety Executive

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received in each of the last three years on sums charged above £20,000 under the Health and Safety Executive's Fee for Intervention scheme.

Mr Mark Harper: Since the start of the Fee for Intervention scheme the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has received representations on 2 occasions on sums charged above £20,000. These were dated 12 November and 10 December 2014.

Health and Safety Executive

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium-sized enterprises of the Fee for Intervention scheme used by the Health and Safety Executive.

Mr Mark Harper: In June 2014, an independent review panel was asked to examine the Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme and its application. As part of that review, the panel were asked to consider the financial impact of the scheme on businesses. The panel took into consideration:· the range of the values invoiced;· the number of invoices issued;· the profile of the sizes of businesses invoiced;· whether or not invoices were being paid; and,· how HSE is helping those businesses which may have difficulty in paying.The panel concluded that FFI ‘had proven effective in achieving the overarching policy aim of shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses that break health and safety laws’. They recognised that a financial burden was created for organisations found to be in material breach; however, the evidence suggested that the majority of invoices are being paid and that HSE is taking a proportionate and supportive approach to those who are in financial difficulty.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of the under-occupancy penalty on his Department's expenditure in this Parliament; and under what categories of expenditure that effect has happened.

Mr Mark Harper: The removal of the spare room subsidy is saving around £1 billion over the course of this Parliament from Housing Benefit expenditure in the social rented sector.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to collate and publish information on the weekly amount and duration of jobseeker's allowance hardship payments.

Esther McVey: The Department intends to publish figures on the number of hardship applications and awards in May 2015.

Occupational Money Purchase Schemes

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that schemes identified by the Independent Project Board as having excessive charges take effective and timely action in response and will be subject to sanctions if they do not do so.

Steve Webb: The recent audit of charges and benefits in legacy pension schemes was undertaken by an Independent Project Board, on which the Department for Work and Pensions was represented. In their report, published on 17 December 2014, the Board made clear that action must be taken quickly to address high charges. I have since met with the key providers to discuss their plans to ensure members receive value for money. Whilst the details of these discussions are confidential, a picture is emerging of industry action, with several providers outlining significant steps to address high charges. For example, preparations for the default fund charge cap which, subject to Parliamentary approval, will apply to schemes used for automatic enrolment from April, have already triggered a reduction in charges in many schemes. Moreover, some schemes with relatively higher charges are delivering valuable benefits, such as guaranteed investment returns, which may be better than anything available on the market today, and which it may be in members’ interests to keep. Both the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority have powers to extend the charge cap to legacy schemes, if this is necessary to protect consumers.

Employment Schemes: Mental Illness

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to implement a separate back to work support system for people suffering from mental health conditions to provide them with personalised help and specialist support.

Esther McVey: Work is an important factor in improving the quality of life for people with mental health problems. Jobcentre Plus, the Work Programme and Work Choice support many claimants with mental health conditions. Jobcentre Plus flexibilities enable a tailored approach to each claimant and we provide training for all work coaches in how best to support people with mental health conditions. Work Programme providers have the flexibility to design an innovative, personalised approach to help people into work. Many providers offer mental health support, either in house or through specialist sub-contractors. With the Department of Health, we have launched pilots aimed at further improving support for people with mental health conditions.

Sick Leave

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days work is lost due to illness each year; and what steps he is taking to reduce absence from work.

Mr Mark Harper: The Office for National Statistics estimated that around 131 million working days were lost due to sickness absences in the UK in 2013, down from 178 million days in 1993.[1] To help tackle this, the Government has recently launched Fit for Work. Fit for Work provides work-related advice to GPs, employers and employees via a website and telephone line. It also provides an opportunity to refer employees who are expected to reach four weeks of sickness absence for an occupational health assessment. The advice element of Fit for Work is live across England and Wales and in Scotland. Since January 2015 some GPs in the Sheffield and North Wales (Rhyll) area have had the opportunity to try the assessment element. This will be expanded across the country over a period of months from spring, building on this experience and learning. In Scotland, the assessment element went live, initially in three NHS Board areas, in January 2015. As with England and Wales, this will be expanded across Scotland from the spring. Fit for Work is a fully transferred matter with respect to Northern Ireland. Decisions on whether to establish a similar service in Northern Ireland are for the Northern Ireland Executive. In addition, the Government is publicising the Mental Health Support Service of Access to Work via Disability Confident, to help retain people with mental health conditions in work.[1] ONS February 2014 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_353899.pdf

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Work Programme participants have entered Payment Group One since June 2011; and how many of those participants were identified as being not in employment, education or training before entering the programme.

Esther McVey: In response to the first part of the question, this information is published and can be found at:http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html Guidance for users can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance Of those Payment Group One participants who have entered the Work Programme since June 2011, over 88,000 have moved into long term work as of September 2014. In total the Work Programme has helped 368,000 long term unemployed people into lasting work. Information is not available regarding the number of Payment Group One participants which were identified as not in employment, education or training before entering the Work Programme.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reclaim overpayments from Work Programme providers since June 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The Department samples and validates paid outcomes on the Work Programme independently from providers and has made appropriate recoveries over the lifetime of the programme, where overpayments have occurred.

Atos Healthcare

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made in establishing a network of mental health, intellectual and cognitive champions in each Atos Medical Examination Centre since November 2010.

Mr Mark Harper: Atos Healthcare has a network of mental health, intellectual and cognitive champions in place to support all health care professionals. These champions are available at all times across the UK to provide advice to the health care professional on any aspect of a case involving mental function or learning disability. Due to the large number and varying size of Assessment Centres, a telephone service is considered the most effective way of providing this support - as endorsed by Professor Harrington in his reviews of the Work Capability Assessment.

Social Security Benefits

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were made for short-term benefit advance in 2014; and how many of these applications were successful.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseeker's allowance claimants have been sanctioned on (a) one, (b) two and (c) three occasions or more; and what the average length of each sanction is.

Esther McVey: The information requested on the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) individuals receiving a decision to apply a sanction, by the number of sanctions, is published and can be found in table 1.7 of the publication at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/jobseekers-allowance-and-employment-and-support-allowance-sanctions-decisions-made-to-june-2014 The information requested in relation to JSA sanction durations is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken to process new claims for jobseeker's allowance was in 2014.

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Mr Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current average time is from the point of application for people with (a) cancer and (b) motor neurone disease to receive their benefit entitlement under the special rules for terminal illness.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested is not readily available for all special rules for the terminally ill benefits, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. For Personal Independence Payment new claims made under special rules for the terminally ill, please refer to the statistical ad hoc that was published on 28th January to support discussions at the Work and Pensions Select Committee.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-new-claims-ad-hoc-statistics

Telephone Services

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls were made to the winter fuel payment helpline 08459 151515 in each of the last five financial years; how much revenue was generated by these calls; and when he expects to end the use of this number.

Steve Webb: Calls to the winter fuel payment helpline were: · 2013/14 226,672· 2012/13 303,610· We do not hold data for the three financial years before 2012/13 For the financial years of 2009/10 – 2013/14, the Department for Work and Pensions did not receive any revenue for the telephone number 08459 151515. The Winter Fuel Payment Helpline service can also be accessed by dialling 0345 9151515. Callers to 0845 9151515 are informed of the availability of the 0345 number option. There is still evidence that the 0845 option can be cheaper for some callers and as a result there are currently no plans to discontinue this number. DWP use of 0845 numbers will be reviewed once the impacts of Ofcom changes to 08 numbers are known. These changes are currently scheduled to be implemented in July 2015.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222124, what information his Department holds on money withheld in benefit sanctions.

Esther McVey: As previously replied and reiterated in the Debate on the matter, the Department doesn’t make an estimate of the amount of benefit that would have been withheld as a result of benefit sanctions.

Winter Fuel Payments

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average proportion of pensioners' energy bills that was met by the winter fuel payment in winter (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2013-14.

Steve Webb: This information is not available.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent representations he has received in favour of allowing work programme participants to claim the new enterprise allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The Employment Related Services Association provided written evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee in its Inquiry in May 2013 that Work Programme Participants should have access to the New Enterprise Allowance.Work Programme Providers already have the flexibility to provide effective, tailored support to help claimants in to work. As part of this flexibility, they already can - and do - provide self-employment support for participants.To allow Work Programme participants to also take part in the New Enterprise Allowance scheme would result in paying two providers for one job outcome. Clearly we have a duty to tax payers to ensure that public money is used wisely and it would not be right for us to pay to support people to participate in these two programmes at the same time.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012, whether his estimate of the number of people who will have higher entitlement as a result of universal credit in each of the next five years is the same as that in that Assessment.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012, whether his estimate of the number of people who will have lower entitlement as a result of universal credit in each of the next five years is the same as that in that Assessment.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012, whether his estimate of the net decrease in social security payments that will arise from the introduction of universal credit in each of the next five years is the same as that in that Assessment.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012, whether his estimate of the decrease in social security payments that will arise from the introduction of universal credit due to reduced fraud, error and overpayments in each of the next five years is the same as that in that Assessment.

Mr Mark Harper: The Impact assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012 does not contain estimates over the next 5 years. The Impact Assessment estimates are based on analysis of the steady-state when universal credit is fully rolled out. Updated versions of the IA estimates are in the below table: ReferenceAnswer223271The department estimates the number of people who will have a higher entitlement as a result of Universal Credit is 3.2million.  223272Transitional protection will ensure that no households see a cash reduction at the point they are actively moved to Universal Credit from legacy benefits or tax credits. In the long-run the department estimates that around 3m households have a notionally lower entitlement under Universal Credit.  223273Universal Credit represents a fundamental transformation of the working age welfare system. Changes to the structure of entitlements, including an additional £350m investment in childcare, along with higher take-up of those entitlements, will increase payments to low income households by around £2bn per annum in steady-state. Universal Credit will also design some elements of fraud, error and overpayments out of the system together with more responsiveness to changes in earnings producing a net saving to the taxpayer of £0.6bn per annum in steady-state. In addition, the department expects savings to the taxpayer beyond the £0.6bn per annum in steady-state as a result of behavioural changes, additional employment, and wider economic benefits.  223274See answer to 223273  Note – Figures are given in 2014/15 prices

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department estimates it will raise in child maintenance service charges in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Steve Webb: Paragraphs 101 to 108 of the CSA Case Closure, Introducing CMS Fees, Supporting Family Based Arrangements Impact Assessment give an estimate of the income expected to be raised through the introduction of fees. This Impact Assessment, published on 22 November 2013, is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259694/cm-case-closure-and-charges-regs-ia-final.pdf No separate estimate for has been made for Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Parents can avoid all fees and charges by making a family-based child maintenance arrangement, which they can be helped to achieve by contacting Child Maintenance Options. Where this is not possible, on-going collection and enforcement charges can be avoided by using ‘Direct Pay’.

Cold Weather Payments

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the criteria for awarding cold weather payments have changed since May 2010.

Steve Webb: In April 2013 Universal Credit was added as a qualifying benefit and Council Tax Benefit was removed as a qualifying benefit as it ceased to exist. Otherwise, the criteria for awarding Cold Weather Payments have remained the same. This Government have also, from 2010, permanently increased the value of a Cold Weather Payment from £8.50 to £25.

Jobcentre Plus

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what performance measures are used to monitor frontline advisers in Jobcentre Plus.

Esther McVey: Frontine Advisers’ performance is measured in a variety of ways. Departmental staff have individual key work objectives that support the Department to meet organisational performance measures, and deliver high quality public services.

New Enterprise Allowance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of his Department's advertising budget is allocated to the campaign to promote the New Enterprise Allowance; and how much of that funding has been spent in the last 24 months on (a) television, (b) newspaper advertising, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising mentioning the New Enterprise Allowance.

Esther McVey: The Department does not have a specific advertising budget. In the last 24 months, the Department spent £25,150 (excluding VAT) on marketing activities to support the New Enterprise Allowance.   (a) Television – nil (b) Newspaper – nil (c) Online - £2,450 (d) Radio – nil (e) Other – £22,700 (for posters, flyers and videos)

Innovation Fund

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2015 to Question 221342, what the name is of the first of two evaluation partners who have been appointed by his Department to independently evaluate the 17 Innovation Fund pilots set up under the Help for Separated Families initiative.

Steve Webb: We have signed a contract with Adetiq to ensure the security of data during evaluation.

Innovation Fund

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which of the 17 Help and Support for Separated Families Innovation Fund pilots will finish in March 2015 as originally planned; and which of those pilots will continue, and for how long.

Steve Webb: Officials are in discussion with all current projects about a possible extension beyond March 2014. I will make an announcement about this in the coming weeks.

Occupational Pensions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of his Department's advertising budget is allocated to the campaign to promote workplace pensions; and how much of that funding has been spent in the last 24 months on (a) television, (b) newspaper advertising, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the slogan, workplace pensions, we're all in.

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be in receipt of universal credit by 7 May 2015.

Mr Mark Harper: I refer my hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 26 January 2015 to Question UIN 221544.

Housing Benefit

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which credit reference agencies his Department has engaged in housing benefit claim verification in the last financial year; and for what purpose each such agency was engaged.

Steve Webb: The Department has not engaged any credit reference agencies in Housing Benefit claims in the last financial year. Individual local authorities are free to make their own local arrangements for the administration of Housing Benefit and some may use credit reference agencies to verify claims. We do not collect information on this.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Annex 5 of the Written evidence submitted by the Public and Commercial Services Union to the Work and Pensions Committee dated 29 January 2015, whether the target set out in the memorandum dated 1 July 2013 raising the adverse decision rate of 80 per cent in that Annex remains in place; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: There are no targets or benchmarks for the number of benefit sanctions applied by Decision Makers. The Department is careful to ensure quality and consistency of decision making throughout the sanctions process. The 80% adverse decision rate forms part of this quality assurance and was introduced to ensure that only appropriate referrals are made by Job Centre Plus advisers to Decision Makers. This measure is in place so that all evidence is considered first by an adviser before a doubt is referred to a decision maker.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Water Charges

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 29 Jaunuary 2015 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Water Management, Official Report, column 987, on water companies: social tariff, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on entitlement to water companies' social tariff schemes and to benefit entitlements.

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2015 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Water Management, Official Report, column 987, on water companies: social tariff, whether the criteria used by water companies for local social tarrif schemes are based on the eligibility criteria for universal credit and income support.

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2015 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Water Management, Official Report, column 987, on water companies: social tariff, which water companies have a social tariff scheme; how many customers benefit from each scheme; and what the eligibilty criteria are for each scheme.

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Water Management, Official Report, column 987, on water companies: social tariffs, what discussions she has had with (a) water companies and (b) other government departments on a scheme of social tariffs that is consistent across England; and if she will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: There are currently eight water companies across England and Wales that offer a social tariff to help their customers with affordability. The companies are: Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Bristol Water, Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water), South West Water, Sutton & East Surrey Water, Thames Water and Wessex Water. A further six companies will be introducing social tariffs from April 2015: Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, South East Water, Southern Water, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water. The remaining four water companies either intend to have a social tariff in place by April 2016 or are currently consulting with their customers. The existing social tariffs currently support over 22,000 customers and are just one aspect of a much wider support package that all water companies provide, including WaterSure, customer assistance funds, support tariffs, debt advice and support with water efficiency.   The Government has published guidance to the water companies and Ofwat on the introduction of social tariffs, which makes it clear that the companies are best placed to take decisions around the design of social tariffs. In consultation with their customers, each water company sets the eligibility for their own social tariff scheme, taking account of local circumstances and the needs of their customers. Many are also working with third sector organisations (Citizens Advice Bureaux, StepChange, etc.) to better target those customers that would benefit from support. All social tariffs must also be approved by Ofwat, within the context of each water companies’ individual charging schemes.   Defra officials are holding discussions between officials from the Department for Work and Pensions and the water industry, to explore the options around using benefits data matching to improve targeting and administration of social tariffs.   Through our guidance we have set a framework that is consistent across England, while giving the water companies the flexibility to respond to local needs and circumstances. A mandatory social tariff is a blunt instrument, not least because of the many variations across the regions, and further regulations would be an unnecessary burden. Shortly, almost all water companies will have social tariff schemes, developed in consultation with their customers, to ensure they are tailored to meet local needs and are acceptable to the people who will have to pay for them.

Cats: Animal Welfare

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of cats (a) killed and (b) injured by firearms in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: Defra does not hold information on the numbers of cats shot by firearms. However, this information may be held by each police force.

Slaughterhouses: CCTV

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration she has given to requiring the mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in animal slaughterhouses.

George Eustice: On 3rd January 2014, I received an independent expert report on CCTV in slaughterhouses produced by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee. I am considering that report and its recommendations.   A copy of the report is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fawc-opinion-on-cctv-in-slaughterhouses, I have also put a copy in the Library of both Houses.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has the power to require baseline monitoring of (a) groundwater and (b) air quality (i) before a consent for a hydraulic fracturing development is given and (ii) after such consent has been given but before the commencement of any such fracturing.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency has the powers under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPRs) to require baseline monitoring of groundwater and air quality for each site proposing to undertake hydraulic fracturing.   All oil and gas exploratory sites need permits under the EPRs. Any requirements for baseline monitoring would be made pre-operational conditions of the environmental permit with which the operator has to comply before hydraulic fracturing can commence.

Common Agricultural Policy

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations her Department has made to the Council of the European Union on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy.

George Eustice: I welcome Commissioner Hogan’s commitments to simplifying the CAP and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has already set out her priorities to reduce red tape, in particular an immediate review of the Greening measures.   UK Ministers attend the monthly Council of European Agriculture Ministers, where we are committed to working with the European Commission and other Member States to secure the most ambitious action on CAP simplification. My officials are currently engaging with stakeholders across the UK on this agenda, and their views will be incorporated into my Department’s response to Commissioner Hogan later this month.

Birds: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect woodcock habitat.

George Eustice: Around 150 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) have been notified for woodland breeding bird assemblages, many of which include breeding woodcocks. Conservation objectives for these SSSIs include maintaining the diversity of breeding bird assemblages and maintaining the area of habitat supporting those assemblages.   Countryside Stewardship, the new agri-environment scheme, will have land management options for woodlands and grasslands which are likely to benefit both breeding and wintering woodcock where they are deployed.

Birds: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect capercaillie habitat and reduce the number of pine martens.

George Eustice: Wildlife management and protection are devolved issues, so I can only answer for England. There are no populations of capercaillie in England. In England, pine martens are protected and Defra has no plans to take steps to reduce their numbers.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the specific remit is of (a) her Department and (b) its agencies in relation to hydraulic fracturing.

Dan Rogerson: Defra is responsible for the environmental aspects of shale gas policy, with the exception of climate change and seismicity issues, on which the Department of Energy and Climate Change leads. Defra responsibility extends to England only, as environmental policy is a devolved matter.   The Environment Agency is the environmental regulator in England. The Environment Agency ensures that operations are conducted in a way that protects both people and the environment.   Natural England plays a role within the planning process. This includes consideration of landscape and biodiversity impacts where appropriate, as both a statutory consultee and as an advisor to developers pre-application.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring forward proposals to amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (S.I., 2010 No. 675) in relation to hydraulic fracturing.

Dan Rogerson: There are no immediate plans to amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. There is already a robust regulatory regime in place for shale gas exploration activities. However, we keep the regulatory framework, including the EPRs, under review to ensure that the shale gas industry will continue to be regulated robustly as it develops.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) continuous and (b) baseline monitoring arrangements are in place for fugitive emissions for hydraulic fracturing; and which body conducts that monitoring.

Dan Rogerson: All oil and gas exploratory sites need permits under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPRs).   As part of the application process for an environmental permit operators must provide a site condition report detailing the condition of the site prior to the commencement of any operations. This will include the condition of air, surface and groundwater quality, and the prevailing soil quality. It will provide the baseline data that will be used to determine if there has been any deterioration in the land when an operator applies to the Environment Agency to surrender the permit. The Environment Agency will assess this data against its environmental databases and those of others, such as the survey recently conducted by the British Geological Survey to establish baseline levels of methane in groundwater.   It is the operator's responsibility to comply with the conditions of the permit, including any specified monitoring conditions. The permit will specify the type, frequency and determinants to be monitored throughout the operational life of the site. The Environment Agency may undertake spot checks and carry out additional monitoring.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria must be met for eligibility to perform baseline monitoring of air quality and methane in groundwater for hydraulic fracturing developments.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency requires monitoring to be conducted in line with its monitoring certification scheme (MCERTS), which specifies the equipment, techniques, personnel training and organisations employed to undertake analysis.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by what date she expects the Environment Agency to publish information about the chemicals it requires hydraulic fracturing developers to disclose.

Dan Rogerson: Operators are required to disclose the chemicals, and the maximum concentration of each, that they propose to use in hydraulic fracturing when they apply to the Environment Agency for environmental permits.   This information is included within the environmental permit, which the Environment Agency will place on the public register.

Food: EU Action

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222547, if the Government will make representations to the European Commission requesting that it publish its communication on Building a Sustainable European Food System.

George Eustice: Officials continue to liaise with their counterparts in the Commission about this Communication. We understand that the new European Commission is considering the focus of the Communication. No formal representations are planned.

Wind Power

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the environmental effects of the development of onshore wind power.

Dan Rogerson: Wind power will make a significant contribution to the UK meeting its renewable energy and climate change targets. However, development has to be in the right place. Government planning guidance therefore makes it clear that the need for renewable energy should not automatically override concerns about local impacts. When applications for wind turbines are determined, the impacts on matters such as ecology, noise, landscape, heritage and amenity are considered.

Seas and Oceans: Pollution

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the dumping of plastics in oceans.

George Eustice: The UK, together with all other OSPAR Contracting Parties, recently agreed a Marine Litter Action Plan for the Northeast Atlantic that addresses litter from sources on land and sea. The UK is a party to the London Protocol, which would not permit ‘dumping’ of plastics in the ocean. My colleague, the Secretary of State for Transport, is responsible for shipping and the UK is party to the International Marine Organisation’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Under this Convention the discharge of plastics from ships is prohibited.

UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made towards meeting Aichi Targets 10 and 11 under the Convention on Biological Diversity; and what the UK's contribution towards achieving these targets will be.

George Eustice: Information on global progress towards meeting Aichi Targets 10 and 11 is available in the 4th Global Biodiversity Outlook: http://www.cbd.int/gbo/gbo4/publication/gbo4-en-lr.pdf.   The Aichi Targets are global in nature and do not apply to each Contracting Party individually.   Detailed information on action taken by the UK to contribute to their achievement can be found in the UK’s 5th National Report, available on the Convention on Biological Diversity website at https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/gb/gb-nr-05-en.pdf and in the most recent update to the UK Biodiversity Indicators, published in December 2014: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-4229.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to review the allocation of Common Agriculture Policy funds between Scotland, England and Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The review of allocations of Common Agricultural Policy funds between UK administrations will take place in 2016/17. Defra will first work with the devolved administrations to decide on the data needed to facilitate a comparison of payments across the UK. One area that will be examined in the review is a comparison of land types and payment areas; this will be easier when all UK administrations have begun the transition to area based payments.

Greyhounds: Imports

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Ireland on enforcement of the Balai Directive for racing greyhounds travelling to the UK; and how many racing greyhounds were declared through TRACES in the last 12 months.

George Eustice: I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 26 January 2015, PQ UIN 221245.

Forests

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the UK covered by woodland in each of the last 10 years.

Dan Rogerson: Woodland statistics are published annually by the Forestry Commission. Figures published each year for the last ten years are reproduced in the table below.  UKYearWoodland Area (000 ha)% Woodland2014 1,23,13812.92013 1,23,12712.92012 1,2309712.82011 3307812.72010 3284612.72009 4284111.72008 4284111.72007 4283711.72006 4282911.62005 4282511.62004 4281711.6 1. Figures for England, Wales and Scotland are based on data obtained from the National Forest Inventory (NFI) and adjusted for new planting, but at present no adjustment is made for woodland recently converted to another land use.   2. Figures for Northern Ireland are obtained from the Northern Ireland Woodland Register.   3. Figures for England, Wales and Scotland are based on 2010 data obtained from the National Forest Inventory and adjusted for new planting, but at present no adjustment is made for woodland recently converted to another land use. The NFI did not include Northern Ireland.   4. Non-FC woodland figures for 2004-2009 for England, Wales and Scotland are based on the 1995-99 National Inventory of Woodland and Trees (NIWT) and adjusted for new planting and sales of FC woodland, but at present no adjustment is made for woodland converted to another land-use. The NIWT did not include Northern Ireland.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 15 December 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr A. Webster.

Dan Rogerson: Reply was sent to the Rt. Hon. Member on 23 December 2014, Defra reference MC366057.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Planning Permission: Appeals

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many planning appeals were recovered from local authorities in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: A planning recovery entails the appeal being decided by Ministers directly, rather than the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State.As I noted in my previous answer, in 2013-14, just 0.9% of planning and enforcement appeals were decided by Ministers.To assist scrutiny, the table below lists the number of recoveries from the last ten years. Date of recoveryAppeals recovered20052282006166200712320089720094820107420118420121322013137201482As outlined in previous Written Ministerial Statements, in recent years, the recovery criteria were intentionally changed to consider recovering more appeals in specific areas.

Care Quality Commission

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will take steps with the Department of Health to progress the commencement of powers for the Care Quality Commission to undertake inspections of how local authorities commission their care services where no specific complaints have been made.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the commencement of wider powers for the Care Quality Commission to undertake inspections into local authorities' commissioning of care services.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will direct officials in his Department to meet officials in the Department for Health to discuss giving the Care Quality Commission wider powers than they currently have to undertake inspections of how local authorities commission their care services, even where no specific complaints have been made.

Kris Hopkins: The power for a Secretary of State to require the Care Quality Commission to undertake a special inspection of local authority commissioning of care services has already been commenced. The Coalition Government has a strong record of reducing top-down inspections of local government, reflecting commitments made in the Coalition Agreement. Intervention in the activities of locally accountable councils should only be considered where a last resort. I am not aware of any evidence that would constitute the kinds of exceptional circumstances that would warrant deployment of this power. Indeed it is arguable that local councils have been very effective in procuring care services and local taxpayers will thank them for having kept care costs under control. Even where there is evidence of poor commissioning practice by particular councils, the Government expects councils collectively, through the Local Government Association, to take the lead in improving poor performance. The Association has developed a programme of peer support available to councils, which includes mentoring and peer challenges.

Local Government Services: Small Businesses

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received from small business owners about unfair competitive practices from local authorities trading under the general power of competence granted by the Localism Act 2011.

Kris Hopkins: We have recently received a number of letters from small business owners relating to the selling of memorials referring to the general power of competence. The legislation only allows local authorities to provide and charge for discretionary services on a cost recovery basis and individuals must agree to that service being provided and choose to pay for it. Charging beyond cost recovery is trading. If a council is doing something for a commercial purpose (i.e. trading) it must be carried out through a company to ensure that the council does not have an unfair tax advantage over businesses. Furthermore a council cannot trade in services that they are required to provide, such as collecting household rubbish.Local authorities are expected to make best use of resources by trading their expertise and ensuring that such action does not prevent growth of the private sector by distorting competition. Trading powers encourage councils to extend and improve the range of services offered, introduces new players into the market aiding competition, and helps increase the scope to provide business opportunities for the private sector.

Local Government: ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of refunding VAT for contracted out services on the (a) ability and (b) incentives for local authorities to (i) share software services and (ii) use off the shelf software and Cloud services.

Kris Hopkins: Holding answer received on 03 February 2015



The management of local authority IT systems are a matter for individual councils. As a consequence, no assessment has been made of the effect of refunding VAT for contracted out services on the (a) ability and (b) incentives for local authorities to (i) share software services and (ii) use off the shelf software and Cloud services. The independent Service Transformation Challenge Panel published their report on 26 November 2014, and noted that local public services have yet to take widespread advantage of digital technology to improve the costs and quality of their services or enable more connected communities. We will be responding to the report in due course.

Termination of Employment

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many compromise agreements his Department has made with departing staff in each year since 2010; and how many such agreements contained confidentiality clauses.

Kris Hopkins: Since January 2010 eight departing DCLG employees have signed compromise agreements. None of these cases concerned an issue of "Whistle blowing" and none sought in any way to restrict the rights of an individual to make public interest disclosure under The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.None of these staff were forced to enter into these agreements and all received legal advice before they agreed to settlement.YearCompromise AgreementsConfidentiality Clause201044201100201233201310201400The 2013 report by the National Audit Office into the public sector's use of confidentiality clauses noted how DCLG Ministers had stopped the previous Whitehall practices of payments being made for confidentiality clauses.

Buildings: Carbon Emissions

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the contribution of the hon. Member for St Albans of 26 January 2015, Official Report, column 648, if he will make it his policy to issue new guidance during the planning process that will put an obligation on commercial buildings to have zero-carbon or low-carbon emissions.

Stephen Williams: The National Planning Policy Framework already states that to support the move to a low carbon future local planning authorities when setting any local requirements for a building’s sustainability should do so in a way consistent with the Government’s zero carbon buildings policy. The Government is committed to progressively strengthening the national regulatory requirements for new non-domestic buildings, enabling them to be zero carbon from 2019. To that end the minimum energy performance requirements in the Building Regulations have been twice strengthened under this Administration resulting in an average energy performance improvement of over 30%.

Sleeping Rough

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people were sleeping rough in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Yorkshire, (d) Kirklees and (e) Huddersfield in each of the last 10 years.

Kris Hopkins: National and local authority data on rough sleeping can be found in Table 1 of the Rough Sleeping in England statistical release which can be found on the Department’s website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics This Government has increased spending to prevent and tackle rough sleeping and homelessness making over £500 million available, giving councils the funding and tools needed to take action against rough sleeping locally.

Homelessness

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what meetings he has had with charities and lobbying organisations on homelessness in the last two years.

Kris Hopkins: Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published online as part of our transparency agenda.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&publication_type=transparency-dataI also refer the hon. Member to the meetings of the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/minutes-of-the-ministerial-working-group-on-preventing-and-tackling-homelessness

Homelessness

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on measures to reduce homelessness.

Kris Hopkins: The Department issues statutory guidance which local authorities must, by law, have regard to when carrying out their statutory duties as set out in the Housing Act 1996. This guidance helps authorities understand how best they can protect and support homeless households. We fund the National Practitioner Support Service to help local authorities continuously improve their frontline housing services so to better support and protect homeless households. We have also invested over £10 million in the National Homelessness Advice Service that ensure that frontline staff receive the support they need to provide a professional service, as quickly and efficiently as possible. This Government has invested over £500 million since 2010 to tackle all forms of homelessness and rough sleeping. The homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own.

Mayors: Greater Manchester

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether responses to the consultation on the proposal to amend the constitution of Greater Manchester Combined Authority will be published.

Kris Hopkins: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



As is the norm for consultations, we will publish a Government response and summary of the responses in due course.

Rents: Regulation

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals giving local authorities powers to implement rent controls.

Brandon Lewis: No.The latest Office for National Statistics figures show that private sector rents have actually fallen in real terms across England since 2010 (rents up 10.6 per cent from May 2010 to December 2014, compared to CPI inflation of 12.1 per cent). Indeed, regulated social rents have risen faster in recent years; average weekly rents rose by 25.4 per cent from 2008-09 to 2012-13 in the social rented sector, compared to 6.5 per cent in the private rented sector (DCLG, English Housing Survey: Headline Report, February 2014, p.19). The historical evidence is clear that rent controls resulted in the size of the private rented sector shrinking from 55 per cent of households in 1939 to just 8 per cent in the late 1980s. State-imposed price ceilings meant that many landlords could not afford to improve or maintain their homes, leading to worst conditions for tenants. Ultimately, the reduction in supply from such controls would push up rents and reduce choice for tenants. Indeed, this point was confirmed in policy documents published under the last Labour Government: “A key factor behind the decline in the private rented sector was the introduction of rent controls during the First World War, and these became more extensive over time. Artificially low rents reduced investment in the sector, contributing to a tenure shift to owner-occupation and lower maintenance standards in the stock that remained. A turning point was the 1988 Housing Act – which removed rent controls and introduced short hold tenancies” (HM Treasury, Investment in the UK private rented sector, February 2010, p.11). The same analysis also observed that property conditions (proportion of Decent Homes) have improved faster in the private rented sector than in the owner occupied sector, without rent controls. I appreciate the HM Opposition have now swung to the left, and are calling for a form of state rent controls, as part of their business-bashing agenda. Yet rent controls would decimate the action that this Government is taking to increase private and institutional investment in new rented accommodation, as well as leading to worse property conditions for tenants by discouraging investment in existing accommodation. As Swedish economist, Professor Assar Lindbeck, famously remarked: “rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city – except for bombing” (Lindbeck, The Political Economy of the New Left, 1972).

Written Questions: Government Responses

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 220922, tabled on 15 January 2015 by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East.

Brandon Lewis: Question UIN 220922 was answered on 5 February 2015.

Planning Obligations

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on future supply of affordable housing in rural areas of changes introduced to section 106 requirements for sites of 10 units or less.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning Obligations

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department undertook an impact assessment of changes to section 106 requirements for sites of 10 units or less.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mobile Homes: Fees and Charges

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received on park home owners being required to pay both the site licence fee and the site inspection fee; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Since the new site licensing regime came into force on 1 April 2014, my Department has received one enquiry with anecdotal evidence of park home owners being required to pay a site licence fee and a site inspection fee. We have made sure the process for charging fees is transparent by requiring local authorities to publish their policy on how they will set the fees. We have also published guidance for local authorities on matters that can and cannot be taken into account in setting fees. If a home owner and site owner are in dispute about whether or what amount of the annual charge can be recovered through the pitch fee, either party can apply to the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination. We recognise that more work needs to be done to change the culture of the sector. We have therefore set up a Minister-led working group to identify evidence of poor practice in the sector and investigate how best to raise standards further.

Homelessness

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will carry out a review of the adequacy of statutory assistance given to single homeless people.

Kris Hopkins: We have no current plans to change or review the homelessness legislation. England has one of the strongest safety nets in the world and local authorities are required to secure accommodation for any eligible person who finds themselves homeless through no fault of their own and who is in priority need. In 2013-14 23% of all those accepted by local authorities as owed the main homelessness duty were single homeless people. Local authorities are also under a duty to provide free advice and information about homelessness and preventing homelessness to anyone in their district seeking help. This Government has increased investment in homelessness services over the lifetime of this Parliament. We have invested over £500 million to support local authorities and voluntary sector agencies to help the most vulnerable in our society. We have launched an £8 million Help for Single Homeless Fund for local authorities which will improve council services for single people facing the prospect of homelessness. 34 projects, working across 168 local authorities will provide support for up 22,000 single homeless people. We are helping single homeless people find and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector through our £13 million funding to Crisis. By 2016 we expect the Crisis scheme to have helped 10,000 single homeless people since it started in 2010. Local authorities also work hard to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. They have helped 700,000 households at risk of homelessness find new accommodation or stay in their own home since July 2010.

Planning Obligations

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department undertook an impact assessment of the introduction of the financial credit for vacant buildings.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning Obligations

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on future supply of affordable housing of the introduction of the financial credit for vacant buildings.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning Obligations

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on future supply of affordable housing of changes introduced to section 106 requirements for sites of 10 units or less.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department defines what constitutes affordable housing.

Brandon Lewis: The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (sections 68 – 70) defines social housing as low cost rental accommodation and low cost home ownership accommodation. In the Act, a low cost rent is simply defined as below the market rate. Low cost home ownership is defined by its availability for occupation on a shared ownership or equity percentage basis. This provides flexibility to support a range of people with different housing needs through our affordable housing programmes. The definition of affordable housing as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework is as follows:" Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.Social rented housing is owned by local authorities and private registered providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency.Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable).Intermediate housing is homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels subject to the criteria in the Affordable Housing definition above. These can include shared equity (shared ownership and equity loans), other low cost homes for sale and intermediate rent, but not affordable rented housing.Homes that do not meet the above definition of affordable housing, such as "low cost market" housing, may not be considered as affordable housing for planning purposes. "

Affordable Housing: Construction

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many affordable houses have been built in each region in each year since May 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Annual statistics on additional affordable housing provided in each local authority area in England are published in the Department’s live table 1008, which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply  These statistics include both newly built housing and acquisitions.My Department does not produce regional statistics.

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which organisation is responsible for carrying out environmental impact assessments for hydraulic fracturing developments.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Welfare Assistance Schemes

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to publish the results of its consultation on local welfare provision in 2015 to 2016.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to announce its decision on the funding of local welfare provision in 2015-16.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will put safeguards in place to ensure that families affected by future reductions in local welfare provision do not use high-cost lenders.

Kris Hopkins: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 February 2015, questions, UIN 222925 and 222699.

Fire Services

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2014 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Official Report, column 1167, what progress he has made on ensuring that if a firefighter fails a fitness test through no fault of their own and they do not qualify for ill health retirement, they will get a redeployed role or an unreduced pension.

Penny Mordaunt: The amendment of the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England, which places firefighter fitness principles on a statutory basis, came into force on 12 January 2015. The National Framework sets out that fire and rescue authorities must not only have fitness policies in place, but policies to support those who become unfit, including fully exploring opportunities for reasonable adjustments and redeployment. The National Framework also records my decision to set in train an independent review of these principles and their operation in three years time, and in the light of that review, to take such additional action as might be required to ensure the commitments made to Parliament are secured. No firefighter will see any change to their expected Normal Pension Age until 2022.

Local Government Finance

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the formula grant allocation was in each local authority in each year since 2010-11; and what the planned such allocations are for 2015-16.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Government Finance

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish data on the Government's calculation of spending power for each local authority area in each financial year between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

Kris Hopkins: The Government has published Spending Power figures since they were introduced in 2011-12 as shown below. 2011-12: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140110170414/http:/www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/spannexas.xls 2012-13: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140110170414/http:/www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1213/spendpwr.xls 2013-14: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140110170414/http:/www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1314/1314sps.xls 2014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277394/Spending_Power_by_dwelling_final_settlement.xls 2015-16: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/400629/Spending_Power_per_Dwelling.xlsx

Compulsory Purchase

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the circumstances were of each occasion when his Department went against the advice of its independent inspector when approving a compulsory purchase order in the last four years.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Compulsory Purchase

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions his Department has gone against the advice of its independent inspector when approving a compulsory purchase order.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Government Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the advertising budget is for his Department's Local Digital campaign; and how much has been spent in the last 24 months on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising mentioning Local Digital.

Kris Hopkins: The Local Digital Campaign has no advertising budget from DCLG, and there was no departmental spending on advertising for the campaign on television, newspaper, online, radio or another form in the last 24 months. The campaign does have an online presence – as befitting the subject of the campaign – but this is wholly paid for by private sector sponsors.

Green Belt

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many hectares of greenbelt land there are in the UK.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wales Office

Broadband

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent meetings he has held with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on improving broadband access in areas along the Wales-England border.

Alun Cairns: The UK Government has provided the Welsh Government with £69 million to roll out superfast broadband right across Wales. So far, this investment has connected almost 300,000 more homes and businesses in Wales to first class digital infrastructure, including premises along the border.I have discussed the improvements that this investment will bring to Wales with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy and Broadband Delivery UK.

HM Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many nationals of each EU country are in the UK and claiming tax credits.

Priti Patel: Nationality is not a condition of entitlement to tax credits. The information requested is, therefore, not available.

Child Benefit

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England and (d) Wales have been fined for failing to comply with the high-income child benefit tax charge since it was introduced.

Priti Patel: To date, no taxpayers have received a penalty for a failure to declare Child Benefit payments on an individual’s Self Assessment tax return.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Ofgem

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government plans to update the Social and Environmental Statutory Guidance to the Gas and Electricity Market Authority.

Matthew Hancock: The Ofgem Review of 2010-11 recommended that the Social and Environmental Statutory Guidance to the Gas and Electricity Market Authority should be replaced with a new Strategy and Policy Statement, which the Government consulted on last year. The guidance will be repealed once the statement is designated by Parliament.

Fuel Poverty

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households with children in (a) Denton and Reddish constituency, (b) the North West and (c) the UK are in debt to their energy suppliers.

Matthew Hancock: The Department does not hold information on how many families are in debt with their energy companies.Ofgem closely monitors domestic energy suppliers’ performance and publishes information in relation to debt owed by domestic electricity and gas accounts holders in Great Britain, but they do not publish data relating to families with children or constituency areas. At the end of 2013, latest data available, 1.5 million domestic electricity account holders and 1.4 million domestic gas account holders were in debt to their energy supplier:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/92186/annualreport2013finalforpublication.pdfOfgem’s Domestic Suppliers’ Social Obligations: 2013 Annual Report 



Domestic Suppliers Social Obligations: 2013 report
(PDF Document, 771.76 KB)

Natural Gas: Consumption

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the level of gas consumption by (a) consumers and (b) all gas users was in each month of 2014.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 03 February 2015



The Department publishes natural gas consumption statistics on a quarterly basis back to 1998 here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388417/et4_1.xlsThe level of gas consumption by final consumers for 2014 (up to and including provisional data for Q3 2014) is:(GWh)201420142014 1st quarter2nd quarter3rd quarter pFinal consumption184,42786,56758,973Iron & steel1,4921,3851,293Other industries28,78617,93015,209Domestic120,68445,55824,391Other final users32,06520,29416,680Non energy use1,3991,3991,399 The total level of gas consumption by all gas users, including transformation etc. for 2014 (up to and including provisional data for Q3 2014) is: (GWh)201420142014 1st quarter2nd quarter3rd quarter pTotal demand253,938154,565136,149Transformation53,99653,71564,335Electricity generation46,45548,51960,030Heat generation7,5415,1974,305Energy industry use13,48512,63811,194Losses2,0301,6451,647Final consumption184,42786,56758,973Iron & steel1,4921,3851,293Other industries28,78617,93015,209Domestic120,68445,55824,391Other final users32,06520,29416,680Non energy use1,3991,3991,399 Provisional data for quarter 4 2014 will be published on Thursday 26 March 2015 at 9.30am.

Electricity: Consumption

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he plans to publish an update to the sub-national total final electricity consumption statistics.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 03 February 2015



The sub-national electricity consumption statistics for 2013 were published on Thursday 18th December 2014 on the DECC website. A summary report highlighting the key statistics can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-national-electricity-and-gas-consumption-summary-report-2013.

Energy: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the average cost to domestic consumers per GWh of (a) gas and (b) electricity in each month of 2014.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 03 February 2015



DECC do not produce monthly estimates of gas and electricity costs. A monthly index of the price of domestic gas and electricity is published by the Office for National Statistics as part of their Consumer Price Index. This series is an index with 2005 prices = 100.  ElectricityGasJan-14199.9250.7Feb-14200.4251.3Mar-14199.8250.5Apr-14198.6249.4May-14198.6249.4Jun-14198.6249.4Jul-14198.6249.4Aug-14198.6249.4Sep-14198.6249.4Oct-14198.6249.3Nov-14198.6249.3Dec-14198.6249.3 In 2014 DECC estimates that the average price of electricity was 15.57 pence/kWh based on annual consumption of 3,800 kWh/year, with the average price of gas 5.02 pence/kWh based on consumption of 15,000 kWh / year.

Offshore Industry

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will make it his policy to include trade unions representing the offshore workforce in the North Sea Taskforce to be led by the Oil and Gas Authority.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 03 February 2015



We have asked Dr Samuel, Chief Executive designate of the Oil and Gas Authority to lead an urgent commission to identify risks from the low oil price and what further measures might be taken by Government and industry to mitigate them, Dr Samuel will report back by the end of February.In the course of this work, Dr Samuel will be taking views from a wide range of interested parties including through his attendance at the Energy Jobs Taskforce in which government, agencies, trade unions and industry are participating.

Civil Nuclear Police Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much and what proportion of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority's budget was funded (a) from the public purse and (b) through income recovered from its customers in each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the purpose and function was of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority activities funded by grant-in-aid in the last five years.

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which organisations paid for services from the Civil Nuclear Police Authority in the last financial year.

Matthew Hancock: Funded grant-in-aid activities relate to DECC’s contribution to Civil Nuclear Police Authority(CNPA)/Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) capital expenditure requirements plus CNPA/CNC costs which cannot be recharged to industry under s.60 of the Energy Act 2004 as ‘provision of services’ to site licence companies. As such, they relate to costs such as early retirement/redundancy payments and awards from employment tribunals.CNPA and CNC operational costs are recovered from nuclear site licence companies responsible for those sites where CNC officers are based and domestic or international customers of their armed escorting services for transports of nuclear materials by International Nuclear Services (INS) – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The CNPA and CNC is therefore funded by a range of public and private sector bodies. CNPA/CNC budgets for the past five years were £56.5m in 2009/10, £61.4m in 2010/11, £73.5m in 2011/12, £81.6m in 2012/13 and £87.8m in 2013/14. In broad terms, this equates to a two-thirds public sector, one-third private sector bodies (customers) split. In 2013/14 the organisations that paid for the services of CNPA/CNC services were, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, international customers of International Nuclear Services Ltd, EDF Energy, Springfields Fuels Ltd and Urenco UK Ltd.

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total number of hours, persons employed and costs of reachback support for Nuclear Management Partners at Sellafield in each of the last five years were.

Matthew Hancock: The figures are as follows: Cost 1HoursNumber of Persons £k  09/10 Outturn8,66854,736Not available 210/11 Outturn15,29398,222Not available 211/12 Outturn17,069109,05812612/13 Outturn25,115159,17314913/14 Outturn22,498134,0491341 Includes payroll costs plus overhead and reasonable expenses2 Due to change of calculation methodology

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much Nuclear Management Partners have received through performance fees or dividend payments from Sellafield Ltd in each year since it was appointed as the parent body organisation for that company.

Matthew Hancock: Sellafield Limited has earned fees for delivering efficiencies and meeting contract milestones. As owners of Sellafield Limited, Nuclear Management Partners are paid dividends funded by the fees earned, under the terms of the Parent Body Organisation (PBO) contract. The dividends paid to NMP in each year since it was appointed as the PBO, and as disclosed in the Sellafield Limited accounts are as follows:Dividends paid2008-9*2010**2011**2012**2013**2014**Total £M£M£M£M£M£M£MDividends related to 2008/09-12.6----12.6Dividends related to 2009/10-17.417.9---35.3Dividends related to 2010/11--1624.8--40.8Dividends related to 2011/12---19.519442.5Dividends related to 2012/13----418.522.5Dividends related to 2013/14------0Total03033.944.32322.5153.7*For 4 months from 24 Nov 2008 to 31 March 2009**Year ended 31 March

Fracking: Greater London

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether his Department has received any applications to carry out fracking in (a) Ealing, Southall constituency, (b) Ealing local authority area and (c) Greater London.

Matthew Hancock: A Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) is a pre-requisite before any oil and gas operations, including fracking, can take place. No PEDLs are in effect in these areas of London and there are no applications for such operations.

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of how much Nuclear Management Partners will receive in performance fees or dividend payments for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years.

Matthew Hancock: As owners of Sellafield Ltd, under the terms of the Parent Body Organisation (PBO) contract, Nuclear Management Partners is paid dividends funded by the fees earned by Sellafield Limited. The estimated fee payable to Sellafield Limited for 2014-15 is commercially sensitive and will not be disclosed until after it has been determined following the end of the financial year. For financial year 2015-16 the amount of fee pool available is still subject to discussion between Sellafield Limited and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Civil Nuclear Police Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the statement made by the Minister of State in his Department on 16 December 2013, Official Report, column 79WS, what the reason is for the time taken to publish the Triennial Review of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority; and when he plans to publish that review.

Matthew Hancock: The evidence gathering for the Triennial Review of the Civil Nuclear Police Authority is complete, the report is in the processes of being finalised. There is not yet a date set for publication.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is scheduled to next formally review each of its Parent Body Organisation contracts.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 04 February 2015



The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will be terminating the Sellafield Parent Body Organisation (PBO) arrangement with Nuclear Management Partners. The position of the other contracts is as follows: · The Low Level Waste Repository PBO contract will be reviewed ahead of the next contract break point in March 2018.· No formal review of the Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) PBO contract, which is to take the site to its interim end state, is currently scheduled. The Magnox / Research Sites Restoration Limited PBO contract is for up to 14 years; there is no formal review point but the NDA can terminate for convenience.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when each of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's Parent Body Organisation contracts are scheduled for renewal or to reach agreed break points.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 04 February 2015



The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will be terminating the Sellafield Parent Body Organisation (PBO) arrangement with Nuclear Management Partners.The next break point for the Low Level Waste Repository PBO contract is 31 March 2018.The Dounreay Site Restoration Limited PBO contract will end when the site has been taken to its interim end state.The Magnox / Research Sites Restoration Limited PBO contract will expire when the Client Specification has been achieved, with the duration anticipated to be 14 years from September 2014. The Client Specification sets out the planned scope of work within the contract.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the support and overhead costs of each of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's site licence companies were in each of the last five years; and how much of such costs was spent in each category of expenditure included in those costs.

Matthew Hancock: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s expenditure on support costs was £857m in 2009-10, £739m in 2010-11, £800m in 2011-12, £801m in 2012-13 and £814m in 2013-14. The definition of support costs includes research and technology, IT, security, facilities, programme management, procurement, human resources, finance, head-office costs, EHS&Q (environment, health safety and quality), regulatory engagement and communications.

Biofuels

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to his Department's report Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity in 2020, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's conclusion that biomass requires significantly more energy input than other energy sources; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Biofuels

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to his Department's report Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity in 2020, what assessment he has made of the implications of that report for the future of biomass energy in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Solar Power

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households have installed solar panels in each year since May 2010.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wind Power

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households have installed wind turbines in each year since May 2010.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Natural Gas

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what limits he will impose on flaring of gas near to homes and businesses; and whether prevailing wind directions will be a consideration when setting restrictions on any flaring.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fracking

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the risks posed by wells abandoned after use for high volume hydraulic fracturing.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Geothermal Power

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many representations his Department has received from the geothermal industry suggesting or requesting changes to trespass laws; and if he will publish those representations.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fracking

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, over what period of time, at what time intervals, at which depths and for which substances he plans to monitor wells abandoned after use for high volume hydraulic fracturing.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fracking

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Government response to the report from the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society on shale gas extraction in the UK: a review of hydraulic fracturing, published in December 2012, how many of the recommendations in that report which were accepted by the Government have been implemented.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offshore Industry

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations he has received regarding Shell UK Ltd's decision to award Allseas Group SA the contract for decommissioning three of its Brent Field platforms on the UK Continental Shelf; what assessment he has made of the employment implications for UK offshore oil and gas workers of that decision; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: Shell’s contract award to Allseas Group was announced in 2013 alongside the contract award for onshore dismantlement to Able Yard in Teeside. Contracts were welcomed by the supply chain as the unique single lift option had made it possible for the UK yards to compete for this decommissioning work.The employment benefits are significant with 200 jobs being created at the Able yard during the 6 year contract and around 1,000 skilled people involved in the project offshore. Shell’s wider procurement strategy has led to a number of other contracts being awarded to UK companies, winning around 85% of the estimated £4 billion spend.I have now received one letter detailing concerns over the Vessel’s name.

Energy Supply

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate has been made of the number of (a) Fast Reserve, (b) Short Term Operating Reserve and (c) BM Start up Reserve services triggered by National Grid from units in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales in each month since July 2010.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Natural Gas: Meters

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of gas meters and (b) mean annual gas consumption per meter in each local authority in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Statistics on the number of gas meters and mean annual gas consumption by local authority for each year since 2005 can be found on the DECC website:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/gas-sales-and-numbers-of-customers-by-region-and-local-authority.

Electricity: Meters

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of elecricity meters and (b) the mean annual electricity consumption per meter in each local authority for each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Statistics on the number of electricity meters and mean annual electricity consumption by local authority for each year since 2005 can be found on the DECC website:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/regional-and-local-authority-electricity-consumption-statistics-2005-to-2011.

Energy: Debts

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that Ofgem ensures that consumers are made aware of the potential effects of the installation of pre-payment meters on energy debt repayments.

Matthew Hancock: Through conditions in the supply licence enforced by Ofgem, energy suppliers must take all reasonable steps to find out what is affordable to the individual consumer in debt, and include the value of the total charges that will be recovered through a pre-payment meter when agreeing a debt repayment plan with a consumer. Ofgem monitors suppliers’ behaviour and if they do not comply with these conditions then Ofgem can take enforcement action.Ofgem are currently reviewing suppliers’ practices relating to the provision of information to prepayment customers, and exploring options to improve the flow of information for pre-payment meter customers.

Energy: Debts

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that Ofgem ensures that consumers in debt to their energy provider are made aware by those providers of the full range of repayment plans available to them.

Matthew Hancock: Through conditions in the supply licence enforced by Ofgem, energy suppliers must offer domestic consumers in debt with their energy bills: A means by which payments are deducted at source from a social security benefit received by the customer;A weekly or fortnightly repayment plan. Suppliers must also take a customer’s ability to repay into account when setting a repayment schedule;To install a prepayment meter, where it is safe and reasonably practicable to do so. Again suppliers must take a customer’s ability to repay into account when setting a repayment schedule. Ofgem monitors suppliers’ behaviour and if they do not comply with these conditions then Ofgem can take enforcement action. For example, British Gas improved its debt recovery procedures following the launch by Ofgem of an investigation into the company’s compliance of SLC 27.8 in 2011.

Offshore Industry

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the employment implications for (a) UK seafarers working in the offshore supply sector and (b) the UK register of Shell UK Ltd's decision to award Allseas Group SA the contract for decommissioning three of its Brent Field platforms on the UK Continental Shelf; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Public Expenditure

Chris Bryant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance he has issued on the criteria for the classification of major projects; what documentation would be necessary to ensure classification as such a project; and whether a business case and impact assessment is required for classification as a major project.

Mr Francis Maude: The government provides the following definition for major projects on gov.uk: ‘Major projects are defined as those which: ● require spending over and above departmental expenditure limits ● require primary legislation ● are innovative or contentious’ It is the responsibility of the Major Projects Authority (MPA), following these criteria, to work with departments to identify which projects should form part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The Green Book, published by H M Treasury, requires a full appraisal of options before government decides to proceed with a particular project, and the recommendation resulting from that appraisal exercise must be reported. MPA is working with departments to improve the quality and clarity of business cases. We have made valuable progress in supporting project leaders develop their skills through the award winning Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA) and Project Leadership Programme (PLP). 322 project leaders have been enrolled on the MPLA and 100 have graduated. We set up a pilot for the PLP in October for 48 participants across government. We intend to run the full PLP programme from June 15.

Unemployment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average proportion was of people from a black and minority ethnic background who were unemployed for longer than (a) 12 months and (b) two years in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment
(PDF Document, 110.68 KB)

Government Departments: ICT

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of hours lost (a) in his Department and (b) across all government departments due to ICT failure.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many telephone calls have been made by (a) officials and (b) ministerial offices to the ICT helpline in (i) his Department and (ii) across all government departments due to ICT problems.

Mr Francis Maude: Cabinet Office is modernising its internal ICT systems to deliver better services more efficiently. Each Government Department is responsible for its own ICT. Information about hours lost and helpline calls is not held centrally.

Data Protection

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many breaches of protected personal data by his Department have been reported to the Information Commissioner; and how many people were involved in each such breach in each year since 2010-11.

Mr Francis Maude: Departments are obligated to publish such information in their Annual Report and Accounts. Copies of the Cabinet Office’s Annual Report and Accounts, up to and including 2013/2014, are available either from the Library or on-line. The Cabinet Office takes any data losses very seriously and all such incidents are fully investigated.

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government departments' executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are participating in the next generation Civil Service human resources programme; what the basis is for cost-sharing arrangements for set-up and running costs of that programme; and what human resources functions that programme undertakes.

Mr Francis Maude: The Next Generation HR programme started in 2010 and has delivered significant savings - in 2010 annual spend on HR in the Civil Service was £524million, in 2014 annual spend was £257.5 million. Services provided cover the range of human resources activity, including learning, employee policy, recruitment and organisational design and Departments share the full cost of the core services provided. Those services that are volume related (such as bulk recruitment) are paid for on the basis of usage. More information is available onhttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-human-resources-profession/about The list below details those organisations who take services from the shared expert services created as part of the Next Generation HR Programme.  Attorney General's departments Attorney General's Office Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate Treasury Solicitor   Crown Prosecution Service   Serious Fraud Office   Business, Innovation and Skills  Companies House Insolvency Service Land Registry Met Office National Measurement Office Ordnance Survey Skills Funding Agency UK Intellectual Property Office UK Space Agency Capital for Enterprise Technology Strategy Board UK Commission for Employment and Skills   Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service   Office of Gas and Electricity Market   Cabinet Office  Government Procurement Service Government in Parliament   Charity Commission   Department for Communities and Local Government Planning Inspectorate Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Homes and Community Agency Leasehold Advisory Service West Northamptonshire Development Corporation   Competition & Markets Authority   Department for Culture Media and Sport Royal Parks National Portrait Gallery Sports Grounds Safety Authority   Ministry of Defence  Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Defence Support Group UK Hydrographic Office   Department for Education Education Funding Agency National College for Teaching and Leadership Standards & Testing Agency   Department of Energy and Climate Change  Committee on Climate Change Nuclear Decommissioning Authority   Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Food and Environment Research Agency Rural Payments Agency Veterinary Medicines Directorate Consumer Council for Water Joint Nature Conservation Committee Marine Management Organisation National Forest Company Natural England Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gangmasters Licensing Authority The Sea fish Industry Authority   The Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT)   Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (Estyn)   Export Credits Guarantee DepartmentFood Standards Agency   Foreign and Commonwealth Office FCO Services Locally Engaged staff Overseas Territories Wilton Park Executive Agency Great Britain in China (GBCC)   Department of Health Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency Public Health England Human Tissue Authority Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority Health and Social Care Information Centre   HM Revenue and Customs Valuation Office   HM Treasury Office for Budget Responsibility   Chancellor's other departments  Debt Management Office   Government Actuary's Department   National Savings and Investments   Home Office Identity & Passport Service National Fraud Authority Disclosure and Barring Service Equality and Human Rights Commission Office of Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)   Department for International Development   Ministry of Justice  Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service National Offender Management Service Legal Aid Agency The Office of the Public Guardian Criminal Cases Review Commission Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Family Justice Council HM Inspectorate of Prisons HM Inspectorate of Probation Independent Advisory Council on Deaths in Custody Independent Monitoring Boards Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman Commission for Judicial Appointments Judicial Office of England and Wales Lancashire Probation Trust Law Commission Legal Services Ombudsman Legal Services Board Legal Services Consumer Panel Office for Judicial Complaints Office for the Accountant General Official Solicitor Parole Board Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Youth Justice Board for England and Wales   The National Archive   Northern Ireland Office   Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)   Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (OFQUAL)   Scotland Office (incl. Office of the Advocate General for Scotland)   Security Community   Department for Transport  Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency Driving Standards Agency Highways Agency Maritime and Coastguard Agency Vehicle Certification Agency Vehicle and Operator Services Agency British Transport Police Authority High Speed 2 Ltd Northern Lighthouse Board Passenger Focus (Rail Passengers' Council)   Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)   UK Statistics Authority   UK Supreme Court   Wales Office   Department for Work and Pensions Independent Living Fund National Employment Savings Trust Corporation Office of the Pensions Ombudsman The Pensions Advisory Service Ltd The Pensions Regulator   Health and Safety Executive   Scottish Government Accountant in Bankruptcy Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Disclosure Scotland Education Scotland Registers of Scotland Scottish Housing Regulator Student Awards Agency Transport Scotland Highlands and Islands Enterprise Scottish Legal Complaints Commission Scottish Public Pensions Agency National Records of Scotland Crofting Commission Architecture and Design Scotland The Scottish Funding Council for Further and Higher Education   Welsh Government   House of Lords AdministrationIndependent Parliamentary Standards Authority   National Assembly for Wales   National Audit Office

Training

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in each Department, agency and NDPB have attended the Commissioning Academy in each year since it was established; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such attendance on commercial skills in the civil service.

Mr Francis Maude: Through its programme of Civil Service Reform, the Government is taking urgent action to address long-standing skills gaps in the Civil Service. Our pioneering Commissioning Academy is building commercial capability across the public sector, and improving how public services are delivered. To date 392 individuals have attended the central Commissioning Academy programmes, including 121 from central government. In the last year there was a 50% increase in demand for places on the programme, and it will be expanded to deliver 1,500 places by March 2016. Feedback from participants has been consistently positive. Independent research by the Local Government Information Unit on the impact of the Academy found that 71.9% of survey respondents felt their involvement in the programme was already having a tangible impact and they were confident it would lead to a positive outcome for citizens. A number of other programmes sit alongside the central programme under the Commissioning Academy umbrella: 78 have attended local programmes, 8 a streamlined programme for Local Authority elected members, plus 49 junior officials from Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and the Crown Commercial Service.   Central Government2012/132013/142014/15TotalBIS0055DCLG0909DEFRA0044DfE0044DWP3121328FCO0325Health0033Home Office0246MoD02810Cabinet Office30811Public Services Transformation Network0606Home Office0347Northern Ireland Prison Service0044HMRC0044NAO0066Crown Prosecution Service0022MoJ/NOMS4037Local Authority279881206Fire & Rescue0235Health391628Justice781732Total47154191392

Death

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of UK mortality was directly linked to (a) obesity, (b) smoking, (c) insufficient fruit and vegetables in diet, (d) inactivity and (e) alcohol in each of the last four years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - ULK Mortality
(PDF Document, 113.34 KB)

Charity Commission

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what procedure he used for the reappointment of William Shawcross as Chair of the Charity Commission.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he considered any other candidates for the post of Chair of the Charity Commission before reappointing William Shawcross to that position.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consultation he undertook to inform the decision to reappoint William Shawcross as Chair of the Charity Commission.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the letter to him of 29 January 2015 from the Chief Executive of AVECO, what steps he took to assess the political impartiality of William Shawcross before his reappointment as Chair of the Charity Commission.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons William Shawcross was reappointed as Chair of the Charity Commission before reaching the end of his current term; and what guidance his Department follows on how far in advance of the end of a term of office an appointment can be renewed.

Mr Francis Maude: Decisions on reappointment are matters for Ministers. As was the case under previous administrations, there is no requirement for a separate appointments process or a consultation exercise. As required under the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice, the decision to reappoint William Shawcross for a second term as Chair of the Charity Commission followed a performance appraisal conducted by the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary. William Shawcross’ original appointment followed a pre-appointment hearing with the Public Administration Select Committee (there is no requirement for another hearing ahead of reappointment).  A candidate's political impartiality is one of the matters assessed in the initial appointment process, and Mr Shawcross has remained politically impartial. He is not a member of any political party, and has not undertaken any party political activity during his term of office. The National Audit Office recently found that the Commission had made good progress under Mr Shawcross’ leadership, and developed a credible business model and an ambitious change programme. The timing of the reappointment gives Mr Shawcross and the Commission the certainty that he will remain in post to lead the implementation of the transformation programme which is now at a critical phase. As was the case under previous administrations, there is no guidance on how far in advance of the end of a term of office an appointment can be renewed. Details of the reappointment were published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/william-shawcross-reappointed-as-chair-of-the-charity-commission

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any officials in his Department are engaged in preparatory work on legislative proposals for data sharing.

Mr Francis Maude: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



Data has huge potential to help transform public services and improve them for the future. But data sharing is a sensitive issue about which people have legitimate concerns. One of this Government's first acts was to scrap the illiberal I.D. card scheme and we will not jeopardise citizen's privacy. So we have promised not to build new large, permanent databases; share data within Government indiscriminately; or weaken the Data Protection Act.  But we have also listened to those telling us that new data sharing rules could, for example, help support vulnerable people and inform better Government policy making. So we are engaging with organisations, including civil society organisations, privacy groups, officials from a number of government departments, academics and representatives from parts of the wider public sector, to explore how further data sharing could potentially be used for the public good. As we have always said it would be extremely difficult to proceed if those involved in our open policy making process felt unable to support changes. However we are pleased that they are finding consensus on many of these complex issues. We will not introduce legislation or publish a White Paper in this Parliament but we will continue to engage in dialogue. Any future changes to the rules on data sharing would require further discussion and consensus, as well as a full public consultation. I would like to thank those organisations and individuals who are participating in this important process and look forward to continue collaborating with them.  Information regarding the open policy making process is available at: www.datasharing.org.uk

Community Development

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on match funding start-up progression grants for the Community Organisers programme.

Mr Rob Wilson: Data on Community Organisers progression grant spend is publicly available on data.gov.uk in the Government Grants Register. Senior Community Organisers can only access the employment start up grants if they can secure the equivalent value in match funding from other sources.

Community Development

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many of the original 5,000 community organisers from the Government's Community Organising Programme are still in post.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department is paying Stephen Kearney in his role as CEO and Strategist for Community Organising with Locality and the Cabinet Office.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Stephen Kearney has a pass to the Cabinet Office.

Mr Rob Wilson: As of October 2014, 57% of the Senior Community Organisers who have finished their training year have remained employed as a community organiser for a second progression year. This represents a strong progression rate in light of our tough match funding requirements for the second year employment start up grant and the fact that some community organisers opt out of progression due to personal circumstances.The Cabinet Office does not monitor how many Senior Community Organisers remain employed as community organisers following their progression year.The Cabinet Office has not issued a pass to Stephen Kearney.

Ofsted

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many complaints have been referred to the Parliamentary Ombudsman relating to decisions by Ofsted in the last year for which information is available; how many such complaints were investigated; and how many such complaints were not investigated because they were ultra vires in respect of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's powers.

Mr Francis Maude: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman publish statistical information on their performance in their Annual Report and Resource Accounts which are laid before Parliament. I have asked the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to write to the Hon. Member with further detail on the specific questions raised. Copies of the reply will be placed in the House Library.

Burglary

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many burglaries were reported in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Burglaries Reported
(PDF Document, 184.59 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Employment Agencies

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many recruitment and employment agencies his Department has used to source staff in each year since 2010-11.

Mrs Helen Grant: YearNumber of recruitment and employment agencies used2009-10182010-11132011-1262012-1362013-1472014-date5

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221249, on broadband, what data has been made available to his Department on where the budget was spent.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Holding answer received on 02 February 2015






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 06 February 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The total cost of the Government's national superfast broadband awareness campaign is £8million. This includes the media buying costs (e.g. the airtime for TV/press adverts etc) as well as production costs for adverts (TV/radio/digital/out of home), photography, fees, social media activity and a toolkit of materials for local authorities. The current breakdown per media spent so far is as follows (net costs): Television£2,398,000Video on Demand£284,000Out of Home (posters)£2,000,000Press (national and regional)£828,000Radio£300,000Digital£928,000It is not possible to get a regional split for all the media bought as the campaign was bought on a national basis. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2015 to Question 221249. 15 January 2015 to Question 219653.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Holding answer received on 02 February 2015



The total cost of the Government's national superfast broadband awareness campaign is £8million. This includes the media buying costs (e.g. the airtime for TV/press adverts etc) as well as production costs for adverts (TV/radio/digital/out of home), photography, fees, social media activity and a toolkit of materials for local authorities. The current breakdown per media spent so far is as follows (net costs): Television£2,398,000Video on Demand£284,000Out of Home (posters)£2,000,000Press (national and regional)£828,000Radio£300,000Digital£928,000It is not possible to get a regional split for all the media bought as the campaign was bought on a national basis. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2015 to Question 221249. 15 January 2015 to Question 219653.

Arts: Tax Allowances

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which sectors that receive creative tax reliefs have implemented voluntary levies for training since May 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The high-end television and animation sectors have introduced voluntary levies to support investment and training through the Skills Investment Fund which is being administered by Creative Skillset, the sector Skills Council for the Creative Industries. These arrangements were established in response to the introduction of new tax reliefs for the creative content sectors introduced in April 2013.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local broadband projects have not provided detailed maps and postcode checkers to his Department for its rural broadband project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: All local projects in the first phase of the Superfast Broadband programme have published roll-out information to seven-digit postcode level.Further details on the availability of roll out information are available in the National Audit Office’s report The Superfast (Rural) Broadband Programme: update at: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/rural-broadband-progress-update/written/17767.pdf

Digital Technology: EU Action

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department will be represented at the #Digital4EU stakeholder forum hosted by the European Commission in Brussels on 24 February 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The DCMS is considering this at the moment.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the initial deadline was for his Department's rural broadband project; and what deadline he now expects for that project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The initial Superfast Broadband programme’s objective was to reach 90% of UK premises by 2015. One does not, typically, expect a deadline therefore no deadline is expected.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the outline business case for phase 2 of the rural broadband project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Before Phase 2 of the programme got under way, BDUK engaged with the market and explored several delivery options. A full business case was not developed as we decided to use the same delivery model for Phase 2 as for Phase 1. This approach was provided for within the original programme business case which had allowed for possibility of up to £300m additional government funding being deployed.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he took to develop and cost other procurement frameworks for phase 2 of the rural broadband project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Before commencing phase 2 of the programme, BDUK undertook extensive engagement with the market to consider alternative delivery approaches. No suppliers other than BT were identified with the capacity, capability and interest to deliver at national scale. It was therefore decided to continue with the same delivery model as for phase 1 of the programme. Using the existing delivery model allows Local Bodies to use the existing broadband framework contract, to use new OJEU procurements, or to undertake a change request within their existing contracts (if within materiality limits). 43 of 47 Local Bodies have opted to use BDUK’s procurement framework for most or all of their phase 2 funding. Ten Local Bodies which have chosen to use the framework are considering keeping a small proportion of their funding back, which they may use for other procurements outside of the framework.

Trade Unions

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) meetings, (b) emails, (c) letters and (d) telephone calls have taken place between his Department and PCS and Prospect unions in 2015 to date.

Mrs Helen Grant: We recognise PCS Union for employees below Band A in DCMS. The HRD meets them on a monthly basis and the Permanent Secretary annually. We do not recognise Prospect as we do not have any members in DCMS.We do not hold any records of telephone calls or letters between PCS and DCMS within this period.

Museums and Galleries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent representations he has received on the possible privatisation of the (a) National Gallery and (b) Imperial War Museum.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department has received letters from the public regarding the possible outsourcing of visitor services at both the National Gallery and the Imperial War Museum. The Department was made aware in 2014 of both Museums' plans to consult on outsourcing some visitor services.

Pay

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which organisations in receipt of grant-in-aid from his Department pay the (a) Living Wage and (b) London Living Wage.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS public bodies manage their own operational affairs and so the Department doesn't currently hold this information and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the full cost of his Department's rural broadband advertising campaign is, by type of advertising and media market; how much has been and will be spent on the rural broadband advertising campaign (a) on TfL advertising and (b) elsewhere in London; and for what reason the rollout of rural fibre broadband has been advertised in cities.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The total cost of the Government's national superfast broadband awareness campaign is £8million. This includes the media buying costs (e.g. the airtime for TV/press adverts) as well as production costs for adverts (TV/radio/digital/out of home), social media activity and a toolkit of materials for local authorities. Advertising is taking place across the UK, including cities, in order to make people aware of whether they can get superfast broadband in their area, and to make an informed choice about the benefits it could bring to them. Much of the outdoor advertising in cities was designed to reach those who may be visiting or travelling through and who may live or work outside of those cities. As media was bought on a national basis, it is not possible to separate the London spend from total national spend. However, January – March 2015 spend on advertising with TfL is £290,000 gross.  The contracts between the local authorities and BT mean that as more people take up superfast broadband in areas that have had public subsidy, more revenue will be returned by BT to support further broadband rollout.

Broadband

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the oral evidence to the Public Accounts Committee of 28 January 2015, HC 925, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of providing broadband via satellite to people who would still be unable to receive 2mbps through the copper or fibre networks by the end of 2015; whether he plans to meet that cost from a pre-existing fund; what assessment he has made of the viability of that plan; what estimate he has made of the time it will take to implement that plan; and what estimate has he made of the monthly cost to consumers of that broadband provision.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is committed to providing superfast broadband (speeds of 24Mbps+) to 95% of the UK by 2017. Over 90% will have access to such speeds by early 2016. By the end of 2015 the DCMS estimates fewer than 1% of premises in the UK will have access to speeds not more than 2Mbps. Providing access to a broadband service to these premises through a satellite connection may involve a capital cost in the region of £150 to £200 per premises. Funding to allow these premises to have access to a service which can deliver speeds of at least 2Mbps is included in the local project superfast broadband contracts covering the first phase of the superfast broadband programme. Further work is under way to develop plans for delivery of this.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the oral evidence to the Public Accounts Committee of 28 January 2015, HC 925, Questions 29 and 30, if he will publish the market research conducted in October 2014 on the rural broadband advertising campaign; whether he conducted an impact assessment for the rural broadband advertising campaign; and what the target audience was for that campaign.

Mr Edward Vaizey: BDUK has conducted consumer insight analysis on consumers’ understanding and awareness of superfast broadband and how this varies over time and with rollout. This has been used to inform the campaign development. In addition, the Department ran a series of focus groups with consumers to look at understanding of specific advertising messages. The Department is currently considering the best way of publishing the reports from this work. In line with all Government advertising spend, this campaign was developed through a business case according to Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group procedures (ERG) and the campaign will be fully evaluated on completion. The contracts between the local authorities and BT mean that as more people take up superfast broadband in rural areas that have had public subsidy, more revenue will be returned to Government to support further broadband rollout. The primary target audiences for the campaign are those most likely to be in need of superfast broadband including families with heavy internet usage, home workers, microbusinesses and SMEs. The campaign is also directing people who currently have not taken up a superfast broadband service to a postcode checker to confirm availability in their area.

Broadband

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to reduce the cost to consumers of superfast broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ofcom, as the UK’s independent telecommunications regulator, are responsible for safeguarding the interests of UK consumers, including an interest in acting to ensure that broadband services offer them the best value for money. Ofcom conduct regular market reviews and can impose remedies in order to promote competition amongst Internet Service Providers for the benefit of consumers.The general trend over the past 10 years has been a significant price reduction in communication services which have benefitted consumers. At the same time, investment in superfast broadband has delivered new networks and services, and increased quality and choice to consumers. Consumer prices for superfast broadband in the UK compares favourably to average prices in other countries. For example, Ofcom’s EU Broadband Scorecard published on 11 December 2014 shows that the UK has the lowest superfast consumer prices compared to the other top EU economies of Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

General Election 2015

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on that body's consultation on its list of major political parties for elections taking place on 7 May 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There have been no discussions with Ofcom about their consultation on its list of major parties. Under section 333 of the Communications Act 2003 the rules on party political and referendum broadcasts and consequently on the composition of the list of major parties is a matter for Ofcom. Ofcom is an independent body and it would be inappropriate for Government to comment on their consultation.

Arts: Finance

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to rebalance arts and culture funding between London and the South East and the rest of the country.

Mr Edward Vaizey: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 09 February 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The Government wants everyone to have the opportunity to experience arts and culture wherever they live. By 2015/16, Arts Council will have shifted the balance of funding to the number of national organisations they support so that over half will be located outside of London. This is a move in the right direction but as the Arts Council acknowledged at the announcement of their portfolio there is still more to do and further to go. It will take time for this to happen and the Government will continue to discuss this with the Arts Council and monitor this.The Government has also supported the growth of arts and culture outside of London and the South East by a number of measures. These include the Theatre Tax Relief which encourages greater touring by theatre companies so that the whole country can share and see different productions from different regions. The Government announced at the Autumn Statement 2014 that a £1m will be provided to support a Great Exhibition in the North celebrating the great art, culture and design of the Northacross the museums of the North of England, £78m of capital funding will be provided to create a new theatre and exhibition space in Manchester and £3m will be provided to support First World War art projects primarily in Northern cities. On Thursday, my right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government will provide £1.5 million towards the refurbishment of the Ferens Gallery in Hull to help support Hull’s aspiration to host the Turner prize as part of the UK City of Culture programme in 2017 and in December, he announced that the Museum of Science and Industry will receive a £3m grant for the building of a new temporary exhibition gallery.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government wants everyone to have the opportunity to experience arts and culture wherever they live. By 2015/16, Arts Council will have shifted the balance of funding to the number of national organisations they support so that over half will be located outside of London. This is a move in the right direction but as the Arts Council acknowledged at the announcement of their portfolio there is still more to do and further to go. It will take time for this to happen and the Government will continue to discuss this with the Arts Council and monitor this.The Government has also supported the growth of arts and culture outside of London and the South East by a number of measures. These include the Theatre Tax Relief which encourages greater touring by theatre companies so that the whole country can share and see different productions from different regions. The Government announced at the Autumn Statement 2014 that a £1m will be provided to support a Great Exhibition in the North celebrating the great art, culture and design of the Northacross the museums of the North of England, £78m of capital funding will be provided to create a new theatre and exhibition space in Manchester and £3m will be provided to support First World War art projects primarily in Northern cities. On Thursday, my right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government will provide £1.5 million towards the refurbishment of the Ferens Gallery in Hull to help support Hull’s aspiration to host the Turner prize as part of the UK City of Culture programme in 2017 and in December, he announced that the Museum of Science and Industry will receive a £3m grant for the building of a new temporary exhibition gallery.

Freedom of Information

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the contents of full Freedom of Information releases for his Department between April and September 2014.

Mrs Helen Grant: Information on the Department's Freedom of Information releases for April to September is published on the DCMS website and is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disclosure-log-april-2014-september-2014

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which recommendations of the Reports entitled the Rural broadband programme from the National Audit Office, published on 5 July 2013, HC535, and Public Accounts Committee, published on 11 September 2013 and 25 March 2014, HC474 and HC834, his Department and BDUK are implementing for the phase 2 broadband contracts.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The progress made by the Department in relation to the recommendations in the National Audit Office report of 5 July 2013 is set out in the attached table. .



Table for PQ 222965
(Word Document, 13.24 KB)

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth, (b) the Early Intervention Foundation, (c) the What Works Centre for Wellbeing and (d) the Centre for Ageing Better on the recommendations of those bodies for his Department's policies.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS officials are in direct discussion with the What Works Centre for Wellbeing. During the Centre's development DCMS successfully pressed for the incorporation of a separate work programme on the wellbeing impacts of Culture and Sport. DCMS officials are members of the Centre's development group chaired by Lord O'Donnell and continue to support the development and commissioning of the Culture and Sport programme launched in Oct 2014.DCMS officials have also discussed the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth's draft report with the authors.The Department has not had any discussions to date with the Early Intervention Foundation or Centre for Ageing Better.

Public Expenditure

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the level of his Department's budget from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Mrs Helen Grant: The Department's budget for 2015-16 was set in the Spending Review 2013 and is as follows: RDEL £1,277m (including £158.7m administration); CDEL £117m. Budgets for years after 2015-16 have not yet been set, these will be set in a future spending review.

National Gallery

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that the National Gallery pays its employees the London Living Wage.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Where possible the Government supports the London Living Wage. However, the Department's sponsored Museums and Galleries operate at arm's length from the Department, and as such they have responsibility for their own staffing and service arrangements, including wage levels.

National Gallery

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the value for money of security provision at the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The National Gallery operates at arm's length from the Department, and as such they have responsibility for their own staffing and service arrangements, including security services. As such the Department has not assessed provision of security at the Salisbury Wing.

National Gallery

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the value and duration is of the contract between the National Gallery and CIS Security for the provision of security at the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The National Gallery operates at arm's length from the Department, and as such they have responsibility for their own staffing and service arrangements, including security services. As such the Department does not hold information on specific contracts.

Ofcom

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will ensure that the provisions of the Ofcom Code of Conduct relating to political activity and impartiality are updated.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The provisions of the Ofcom Code of Conduct are a matter for Ofcom. Ofcom is an independent body and it would be inappropriate for Government to comment on its Code of Conduct.

Ofcom

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Baroness Noakes on the compatibility of her political activity with her role as Deputy Chair of Ofcom.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The compatibility of Baroness Noakes’ political activity with her role as Deputy Chair of Ofcom is for Ofcom to assess. No discussions have been held.

Broadband

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much the advertising budget is for the campaign to promote superfast broadband; and how much of that budget has been spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other forms of advertising using the phrase, now's the time for superfast broadband in the last 24 months.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The total cost of the Government's national superfast broadband awareness campaign is £8million. This includes the media buying costs (e.g. the airtime for TV/press adverts etc) as well as production costs for adverts (TV/radio/digital/out of home), photography, fees, social media activity and a toolkit of materials for local authorities.The contracts between the local authorities and BT mean that as more people take up superfast broadband in areas that have had public subsidy, more revenue will be returned by BT to support further broadband rollout.The current breakdown per media spent so far is as follows (net costs):  Television£2,398,000Video on Demand£284,000Out of Home (posters)£2,000,000Press (national and regional)£828,000Radio£300,000Digital£928,000

Deputy Prime Minister

Electronic Voting

Paul Flynn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what the Government's policy is on online voting.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government is open to ideas to improve our democratic system. However, online voting has been piloted in various countries, including the UK, and concerns have been raised concerning integrity and security. Therefore, whilst online voting may be something for the Government to consider in the future, it has not been a priority in the current programme.

Electoral Register

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent representations he has received from (a) councils and (b) electoral registration officers in towns and cities with universities on the transition to Individual Electoral Registration.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Cabinet Office established and manages a Student Forum which enables and encourages all council and Electoral Registration Officers to directly communicate their issues, queries and good practices relating to student electoral registration. The Forum exists to support closer working relationships between universities and authorities and in addition to its work with electoral services receives representation direct from the higher education sector.

Electoral Register

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what his Department's budget is for social media advertising on the transition to Individual Electoral Registration.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Electoral Commission has lead responsibility for public awareness activity to promote Individual Electoral Registration. In addition, the Government uses its own social media channels to promote voter registration.

Electoral Register

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222325, under what headings the £4.2 million to increase student registrations following the transition to Individual Voter Registration will be spent.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The £4.2m funding was paid via grants under Section 31 of the Local Government Act (2003). These are non-ring-fenced to allow Electoral Registration Officers to make their own decisions about how best to allocate funding to increase voter registration.

Electoral Register

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222323, under what headings the funding for Electoral Registration Officers to support the transition to Individual Electoral Registration will be spent.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Cabinet Office has provided over £30m of funding to all Electoral Reform Officers (EROs) to support the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER). This funding has been paid via grants under Section 31 of the Local Government Act (2003) in England and Wales and via invoices in Scotland and was given to EROs to meet their statutory obligations around the introduction of IER. They are non-ring-fenced to allow EROs to make their own decisions about how best to allocate funding to successfully deliver IER. We also sought and received signed declarations from Section 151 officers in England and Wales and EROs in Scotland to ensure that there would be no reduction in current levels of funding and that the allocations were intended to be supplementary funding to cover the net additional cost of IER only.

Electoral Register

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222323, what plans he has to increase the amount of funding available to councils with large student populations to support the transition to Individual Electoral Registration.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Over £10.5 million of funding has been shared across every Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in Great Britain between financial years 2013/14 and 2014/15 to support the costs of activities to increase the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register. Allocations were based on levels of under registration and are therefore weighted to areas with higher concentrations of unregistered electors, including students. Throughout the transition to Individual Electoral Registration, EROs have been able to bid for additional funding where they can justify the need for further support.

Department of Health

NHS: Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that his Department's 2015-16 tariff proposals do not affect patient access and waiting times.

Jane Ellison: The 2015/16 tariff proposals are developed and published by Monitor, who under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act are the legally responsible organisation. Monitor’s impact assessment for 2015/16 National Tariff proposal sets out the likely impact on the quality of healthcare provided in England.   As part of their contracts, commissioners should agree with providers a suitable set of quality measures and targets that can provide a timely indication of clinical outcomes and patient experience. These measures should reflect a broad definition of quality, including clinical outcomes, patient experience and safety.

NHS: Repairs and Maintenance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was of backlog maintenance for the NHS estate in England in each level of assessed risk in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 to date.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information held by the Department is shown in the following table:2009-10£ million2010-11£ million2011-12£ million2012-13£ million2013-14£ millionHigh risk301322296353357Significant risk1,1071,0229271,0021,017Moderate risk1,5141,5231,4851,4771,426Low risk1,1741,2991,3161,2041,242Total4,0964,1664,0244,0364,042   Information for 2014-15 will be published in October 2015.

NHS: Private Patients

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will introduce legislative proposals to allow the NHS to recoup the cost of treating patients who are admitted from private hospitals.

Jane Ellison: National Health Service patients should expect to receive the same safe, high quality standards of care, wherever they are treated.   When things go wrong, commissioners can hold private providers to account through the NHS Standard Contract, which can involve financial sanctions, or the termination of contracts where service improvements are not made. The NHS Standard Contract already places a duty of candour on providers of NHS services, including private providers. From next year, we will implement a legal duty of candour through regulations that will mean private hospitals are legally required to report and apologise for mistakes, increasing transparency for patients and families.

Human Papillomavirus

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 5.26 of his Department's report, An Intelligence Framework for Cancer published in December 2011, what discussions he has had with Public Health England on funding a new database to support the introduction of Primary HPV screening through a single national screening database.

Jane Ellison: Information technology to support cervical screening and the potential introduction of primary human papillomavirus (HPV) screening will be discussed at the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening (ACCS) on 12 February 2015. Public Health England (PHE) will be made aware of any ACCS recommendations resulting from the meeting.   In April 2014 the UK National Screening Committee gave its support for a pilot to assess the value of using HPV TaPS for cervical disease, rather than the currently used cytology test. The pilot is establishing the feasibility of using HPV testing as the primary screen for cervical disease in order to achieve better outcomes for women, while minimising over-treatment and anxiety, and whether it is practical to roll out nationally.   The pilot programme was developed by PHE and advised by the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening. The pilot sites, which began in May 2013, are: Liverpool, Manchester, Northwick Park (Harrow), Bristol, Sheffield and Norwich. The first evaluation report is due in spring 2015.

Death Certificates

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason doctors receive extra payments for signing death certificates.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average payment to a doctor for signing a death certificate was in the most recent year for which figures are available; and how many doctors received payments for signing death certificates in that year.

Jane Ellison: When a patient dies it is the statutory duty of the doctor who has attended the patient in the last illness to issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). There is no fee payable for completing the MCCD.

Babies: Screening

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of adding very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase to the heel prick newborn screening test.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has not made a cost estimate on adding the condition very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase to the NHS Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme.

Hereditary Diseases

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to help early diagnosis of very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation.   The UK NSC is currently reviewing newborn screening for very long chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCADD) against its internationally recognised criteria. A public consultation on the screening review opened on 21 November 2014 and will close on 23 February 2015. A copy of the consultation is available at:   http://www.screening.nhs.uk/fattyacidoxidation   Improving education and awareness of rare diseases across the healthcare professions, including VLCADD, is a commitment in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. The Department continues to work closely with its delivery partners to implement the Strategy.

Exercise

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) Waitrose and (b) Asda as part of the Responsibility Deal in the last three months; and what issues were discussed at those meetings.

Jane Ellison: Representatives for Asda and Waitrose sit on the Responsibility Deal’s Plenary Group. I chaired the last meeting on 18 November 2014 and the purpose of the meeting was to enable members to reflect on the successes of the Responsibility Deal to date and to look at how we could maintain momentum and continue to develop delivery through the voluntary partnership. Further details of this meeting are available on our website at:   https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/minister-jane-ellison-chairs-plenary-group-meeting-on-18-november/   Asda also attended the alcohol network group meeting and an alcohol stocktake event on 5 November 2014. Details of both these meetings are available on our website at:   https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/alcohol-network-group-meeting-5-november/ https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/alcohol-network-stocktake-event/

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Quality and Outcomes Framework, how much GPs have received in remuneration for assessing nerve damage and poor blood supply to the feet in people with diabetes in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison: General practitioners (GPs) can receive remuneration for foot examinations on people with diabetes through one Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator. This indicator changed in 2013/14, with the full details below.   Over the three years from 2011/12 to 2013/14, GP practices received approximately £12.5 million for their achievement against these indicators.   These are estimates, as the actual payment received by each practice for each QOF point will depend on the size and complexity of its registered population.   YearIndicatorTotal QOF points achievedAverage payment per point (£)Indicative total payment (£ million)2011/12DM2930,371.59130.514.02012/13DM2930,172.07133.764.02013/14DM01228,641.09156.924.5Total   12.5   Sources: Health and Social Care Information Centre; Statement of Financial Entitlement (2011, 2012 and 1013)   Details of indicators:   DM012: The percentage of patients with diabetes, on the register, with a record of a foot examination and risk classification: 1) low risk (normal sensation, palpable pulses), 2) increased risk (neuropathy or absent pulses), 3) high risk (neuropathy or absent pulses plus deformity or skin changes in previous ulcer) or 4) ulcerated foot within the preceding 12 months.   DM29: The percentage of patients with diabetes with a record of a foot examination and risk classification: 1) low risk (normal sensation, palpable pulses), 2) increased risk (neuropathy or absent pulses), 3) high risk (neuropathy or absent pulses plus deformity or skin changes in previous ulcer) or 4) ulcerated foot within the preceding 15 months.

Meningitis

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of meningitis B there have been in people (a) under five, (b) aged five to 18 and (c) over 18 in the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The following table shows laboratory confirmed cases of Group B invasive meningococcal disease by epidemiological year and age group; under five years, five to 18 years and over 18 years. The data applies to England and Wales and is sourced from the Meningococcal Reference Unit. The data applies to England and Wales and is sourced from the Meningococcal Reference Unit.<5 years5-18 years>18 years2009/20104501471902010/20114971682152011/2012359951592012/20133591061552013/201425472119   PHE data for invasive meningococcal disease is on the gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/meningococcal-disease-laboratory-confirmed-cases-in-england-and-wales

Endometriosis

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department has published for patients diagnosed with endometriosis.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that women diagnosed with endometriosis receive detailed information on that condition.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with patients' groups on endometriosis.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Information on endometriosis is readily available on the NHS Choices website at:   http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Endometriosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx   It is for the National Health Service locally to ensure women diagnosed with endometriosis receive appropriate information. NHS England has developed a service specification for severe endometriosis under the specialised commissioning area of complex gynaecology. NHS England expects all units providing a service to women with severe endometriosis to provide care which meets the standards laid out in a specification which can be found on their website at:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/e10-comp-gynae-endom-0414.pdf   We have had no recent discussions with patients' groups about endometriosis.

Healthwatch England

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding was allocated to Healthwatch England for (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Norman Lamb: Healthwatch England was allocated £4,083,000 in 2013/14 and £4,157,000 in 2014/15.   Final allocations for 2015/16 have not yet been made.

General Practitioners

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many GP practices will be required to reduce patient services due to the phased withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee; what estimate he has made of how many GP practices he expects will be required to close for the same reason; what steps his Department has taken to support GP practices experiencing savings to their budgets as a consequence of that withdrawal; and what plans his Department has to revise the funding formula for postgraduate students.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Since April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for ensuring the provision of primary care services in England. NHS England is not aware of any that have closed as a result of the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG) and has not estimated whether any will have to reduce services.   The funding released from MPIG will be reinvested into the basic payments made to all General Medical Services practices. For the majority of practices, there will be a net gain in practice income. The phasing of these changes over seven years will allow the minority of practices that lose funding to adjust gradually to the reduction in payments and NHS England is supporting the most affected practices to adjust to the changes.   The Carr-Hill formula, which is used to determine allocations to general practitioner practices, is currently under review by NHS England.

Cancer: Drugs

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made by the working group established to develop a robust process to support the sustainable long-term commissioning of cancer drugs; when he expects the outcomes of their work to be published; and what steps he will take to reduce variations in access to cancer drugs depending on when an application to the Cancer Drugs Fund is made.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that its Cancer Drugs Fund Working Party has held its first meeting and discussed its draft principles and terms of reference for its work.   The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) runs a notification system for drug/indications included on the national CDF list. In order to commence treatment with these drugs, clinicians complete an application online and, where a patient’s needs meet the clinical criteria, they are able to access the drug(s) without any administrative delay. This is an equal system for all if the conditions are met for the drug/indication.   If the drug/indication is not on the national CDF list, an individual CDF request can be made. These are currently assessed on a regional basis. NHS England works closely with the regional teams to ensure consistency in decision making through training, sharing information and the use of a shared database.

HIV Infection

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Public Health England's report on HIV in the UK, published in November 2014, what the evidential basis was of the conclusions in the report; from what sources that data was derived; how frequently such data is published; and when data equivalent to that data will next be published.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) undertakes surveillance of the number of people newly diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the number of people living with diagnosed HIV infection, and the clinical outcomes of HIV infection, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and deaths. These data relate to the adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish data (Health Protection Scotland) and paediatric data (Institute of Child Health) are collected separately and collated to produce the national surveillance tables.   “HIV in the United Kingdom” is a report released annually by PHE in time for World AIDS Day (1 December). The report describes the HIV epidemic in the United Kingdom to date, including trends in new diagnoses and new infections, HIV prevalence, clinical outcomes for people living with HIV and behavioural and HIV testing trends. The data directly inform and evaluate the public health response to the HIV epidemic.   The conclusions of the report are developed by public health professionals who co-ordinate HIV surveillance activities, and are reached through interpretation of the HIV surveillance data.   Data sources, frequency of published data and date of next publication are available in the attached annex. 



Data frequency/sources& next publication date info
(Word Document, 26 KB)

HIV Infection

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data is used to inform the quality dashboard programme developed by NHS England to monitor the quality of HIV care; from what sources that data was derived; how frequently such data is published; and when equivalent data will next be published.

Jane Ellison: The data for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) quality dashboard are provided by Public Health England (PHE) using the national HIV surveillance and monitoring system which uses data directly submitted to PHE by HIV service providers. PHE uses the data to inform clinically important metrics of the quality of HIV care. These include late HIV diagnosis, time from HIV diagnosis to entry into HIV care, retention in HIV care and effectiveness of HIV treatment and care.   In 2015, the annual national dashboard information will be published in the autumn (data to the end 2014); trust level information (to end 2013) will be circulated (not published) to trusts and commissioners in June 2015.   Trust level data are used to monitor the quality of care and outcomes of HIV services to drive service improvement. The dashboard metrics are published online at:   https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/spec-dashboards/

Hernias

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people had hernia operations in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available in the format requested.   The following table provides information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)1 with a main or secondary procedure2 of hernia operation3,4 for the years 2009-10 to 2013-145.   YearFCEs2009-10127,2732010-11127,0252011-12133,6172012-13132,1722013-14139,072 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector   Notes: 1. A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.   2. The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 4 prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure.   3. The following codes were used to identify hernia operations: G23 - Repair of diaphragmatic hernia R01.2 - Fetoscopic insertion of tracheal plug for congenital diaphragmatic hernia R04.6 - Percutaneous insertion of fetal tracheal plug for congenital diaphragmatic hernia T16.4 - Repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia T19 - Simple excision of inguinal hernial sac T20 - Primary repair of inguinal hernia T21 - Repair of recurrent inguinal hernia T23 - Repair of recurrent femoral hernia T24 - Primary repair of umbilical hernia T25 - Primary repair of incisional hernia T26 - Repair of recurrent incisional hernia T27 - Repair of other hernia of abdominal wall T97 - Repair of recurrent umbilical hernia T98 - Repair of recurrent other hernia of abdominal wall   4. Changes to coding classifications: OPCS-4: Operative procedure codes were revised from 2006-07: - 2013-14, 2012-13 and 2011-12 data uses OPCS 4.6 codes - 2010-11 and 2009-10 data uses OPCS 4.5 codes - 2008-09 and 2007-08 data uses OPCS 4.4 codes - 2006-07 data uses OPCS 4.3 codes - Data prior to 2006-07 uses OPCS 4.2 codes   All codes that were in OPCS 4.2 remain in later OPCS 4 versions, however the introduction of OPCS 4.3 codes enable the recording of interventions and procedures which were not possible in OPCS 4.2. In particular, OPCS 4.3 codes onwards include high cost drugs and diagnostic imaging, testing and rehabilitation. Some such activity may have been coded under different codes in OPCS 4.2. These changes may explain some apparent variations over time. Care needs to be taken in using the newer codes as some providers of data did not start using the new codes at the beginning of each data year.   5. HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.   Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an estimate of the potential cost of implementing each clause of the National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill.

Dr Daniel Poulter: We understand that the policy intentions of the National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill (‘the Bill’) are to establish a duty on the Secretary of State to provide NHS services, to make reforms to the NHS in such a manner as to remove its susceptibility to procurement and competition laws and to reduce the level of non-NHS health income that NHS organisations can receive.   This Bill, were it to become law, would reverse a proportion of the changes made under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The Department considers that a reasonable estimate of the cost of implementing this Bill would be in the order of at least tens of millions of pounds.   The costing does not reflect the opportunity costs, organisational restructuring and associated staff and redundancy costs that may need to be accommodated. Significant costs could also arise from implementation costs, including legal costs. There are also likely to be significant costs associated with the transitional changes required to give effect to the Bill’s provisions. For example, Clause 5 gives the Secretary of State power to direct clinical commissioning groups and the NHS Commissioning Board. Such a power materially changes the character of these organisations, which have been established to exist outside of a traditional NHS ‘hierarchy’ and to minimise the risk of political micro-management.   Competition and procurement legislation   A key policy aim of the Bill – and particularly clauses 6, 9 and 11 is to attempt to remove the susceptibility of the NHS to existing competition and procurement legislation. To achieve this aim the system would have to change significantly.   As well as the above changes, we believe that the Department would need to set aside significant levels of contingency budgets in order to allow for the extra costs associated with legal challenges to NHS procurements.   Direct costs would be incurred from; Part 1, clause 2 (new section 2c), subsections (2) - (7)) and clause 6 (new section 9 subsections (18) - (21) and Part 3 clause 12 of this Bill attributed to the Secretary of State for Health being required to:   - Fulfil an amended role in relation to mergers between NHS Trust / Foundation Trust; - provide guidance on cooperation and social solidarity; - seek advice from relevant parties and issue directions; - adjudicate on any complaints they consider appropriate; and, - deal with any NHS Contract references to arbitration under Section 3.   The Health and Social Care Act 2012 made changes to Monitor’s functions and the Secretary of State’s powers of direction over commissioners. This Bill proposes to make similar changes, albeit opposite to the 2012 Act under Parts 1, 2 and 3 for changes to Monitor’s and the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) functions and to reintroduce Secretary of State’s powers of direction over commissioners.   Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this Bill will incur new costs. To fulfil these new Duties, advice would be required from experts from an organisation similar in scale to what is currently spent on competition in Monitor. This function (other than mergers) could be delegated to Monitor, or within the Department, but some redundancy costs could be expected for those not wishing to transfer, or from winding down the function in Monitor if it returned to the Department. For 2013/14 this cost was £1,588,554[1] which included 30 staff. At least this level of cost would be directly incurred in addition to what is currently spent as a result of Part 3, clause 12; Part 1, clause 2, (new section 2c, subsections (2) - (7) and Part 2 clause 6 (new section 9, subsections (18) - (21).   In particular the functions set out in Part 3, clause 12 are currently undertaken by the CMA. Therefore, a similar function would be required to be established to support the Secretary of State in making decisions, as the CMA is likely to retain its existing staff to work on other market investigations. This is because the CMA has a legal duty to refer a merger for an in-depth investigation where:   (a) a relevant merger situation has been created or arrangements are in progress or in contemplation which, if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation, and   (b) the creation of that situation has resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets for goods or services in the UK. The Secretary of State would potentially issue guidance on the role of competition and choice, and would have a role in the adjudication of complaints in these matters. At the moment, this role is undertaken by Monitor. This would require a resource in the scale of the Competition and Cooperation Panel that undertook this role prior to the Health and Social Care Act 2012, indicative figures for which are set out above.   Clause 7, (new section 43, subsections 1-6) and clause 8 of the Bill would provide the Secretary of State with the power of direction over the level of NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Trust non-health service patient income.   Private patient income capWe note that the Bill does not define the level of non-health service patient income which NHS trusts could collect, but note that the Shadow Secretary of State said during the Second Reading of the Bill that (Official Report, 21 November 2014, column 574):   “It reduces the private patient income cap back down to single figures”   Reducing the private income cap to 9% would mean that the following NHS organisations experience a shortfall totalling £50 million as of 2013/14:  PRIVATE PATIENT INCOMEShortfall in income through loss of funding if the Bill became law2012-132013-142012-132013-14%%£000's£000'sThe Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust18.6%20.1%30,89337,499Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust12.2%12.3%5,0045,686Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust11.1%10.1%7,8294,602Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust9.1%9.9%2733,009Total Shortfall43,99950,796 [1] Monitor’s competition functions were established by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. In the transition year 2012-13 Monitor hosted the Cooperation and Competition Panel at a cost of £1,068,099. The cost for 2013-14 also included hosting the Cooperation and Competition Panel.

Paediatrics

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Medical Workforce Census 2013, published in December 2014, what plans he has to facilitate integration between child health services and child mental health services.

Norman Lamb: The Department is working closely with our partners to look at wider system improvements to support the integration of children’s services. This was the focus of a Children’s Health and Wellbeing Partnership seminar on 16 July, which brought together over 50 representatives of national and local government, national health organisations and voluntary sector partners to share expertise and encourage innovation around integrated care and support for children and young people. Following this, the Partnership agreed a work programme on integration, including development of testing pricing and incentive models; sharing best practice across organisations working on integration; using the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing taskforce to extend learning from Special Educational Needs pathfinders; and bringing together and promoting the case for information sharing, including the use of the National Health Service number in Children’s Social Care.   The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Well-Being Taskforce will consider and make proposals on how we can provide more joined up and accessible services built around the needs of children, young people and their families. Its terms of reference make it clear the Taskforce will establish how improvements can be made including consideration of barriers which prevent change and how these can be overcome. This includes barriers and opportunities for empowerment of the children and young people’s workforce and training provision to develop high-quality services.   The Taskforce brings together a range of experts from across health, social care and education and it has sought the views of young people, their families and carers as well as those working with children and young people to inform their work. A government report of the work of the Taskforce will be published in spring 2015.

Paediatrics

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Medical Workforce Census 2013, published in December 2014, what plans he has to increase the community paediatric workforce.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health Education England (HEE) Workforce Plan for England, published in December 2014, confirmed an increase in children’s nurse commissions in 2015/16 by 161 (7.4%) on 2014/15 commissions.   Between May 2010 and October 2014, the full-time equivalent number of nurses, midwives and health visitors recorded as working in the area of Paediatric Nursing has increased by 624 (4%) from 15,795 to 16,419. Not all the staff working in this area will be children’s nurses and only some of these may be working in community settings; the National Health Service occupational codes distinguishes nursing staff by the ‘area’ in which they work and their ‘level’; it does not distinguish the setting in which they work.   The local education and training boards work with providers in their area, including employers, to contribute to HEE’s overall future workforce plan. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure they have the right staff, with the right skills to deliver high quality care, which includes supporting their continuing professional development.   HEE has established a Children and Young People programme to provide leadership in this area. The programme is being led by the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and, working with partners, will ensure that our current and future healthcare workforce is sustainable and equipped to deliver high quality care, reducing variations in physical and mental health outcomes for children and young people.

Psychology

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the Government has invested in research into psychological therapies in each of the last four years.

George Freeman: The following table shows estimated expenditure on research on psychological therapies by the Medical Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, and by the National Institute for Health (NIHR) through its research programmes and research fellowship schemes.   £ million  2010/112011/122012/132013/14Medical Research Council2.62.02.63.4Economic and Social Research Counciln/a0.10.10.3National Institute for Health Research7.89.013.118.8Total10.411.115.822.5   Total spend by the NIHR on research on psychological therapies is higher than this because expenditure on this topic by the NIHR Clinical Research Network and other NIHR research infrastructure cannot be fully disaggregated from total expenditure through these funding streams.

Nutrition

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on agreeing a collective target with industry on the responsible promotion of food under the Responsibility Deal.

Jane Ellison: Under the Responsibility Deal we have not agreed a collective industry target on the promotion of food. However, we are encouraged by the progress some companies are making under the voluntary partnership, for example in removing sweets and confectionery from checkouts. We encourage all businesses to go further.   Under the code of the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice there is a total ban on the advertising of food high in fat, sugar and salt during children’s TV programmes, on dedicated children’s broadcast channels and in programmes of particular appeal to children under the age of 16.

Health Education: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department is providing for the Health Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young programme; and in which area it is being rolled out.

Jane Ellison: The Department awarded a grant of £400,147 to the Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young programme.   The activities will take place in 32 children’s centres in the following four regions: Yorkshire and Humber; East of England; West Midlands; and South West.

Health Visitors: Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training health visitors receive on nutrition.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not keep a central record of training undertaken by health visitors. It is however aware that all specialist community public health nurses, including health visitors, participate in initial core training on nutrition.   Health visitors lead delivery of the Healthy Child Programme1 and the programme’s key developmental reviews include a focus on nutrition.   From 1 October 2015, the responsibility for commissioning children’s public health services, including health visitors, will transfer from NHS England to local authorities. The Department and partners have produced six ‘high impact area’ documents. These support local authorities and other stakeholders in preparation for the new commissioning arrangements and identify areas where health visitors have the most impact on children’s health and wellbeing. Two high impact areas of interest regarding nutrition are: ‘Breastfeeding (initiation and duration)2’, and ‘Healthy weight, healthy nutrition’3. 1Healthy Child Programme: Pregnancy and the First 5 Years of Life (published by Department of Health, 2009), available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-child-programme-pregnancy-and-the-first-5-years-of-life 2https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326892/Early_Years_Impact_3.pdf 3https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326893/Early_Years_Impact_4.pdf

Nurses

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to set minimum nurse staffing levels on wards in English hospitals.

Dr Daniel Poulter: It is not for the Government but for local hospitals to decide how many staff they employ and they are best placed to do this based on the needs of their patients.   In November 2013 the National Quality Board supported by Jane Cummings, the Chief Nursing Officer in England, published guidance on ‘How to ensure the right people, with the right skills, are in the right place at the right time’.   In addition to this and to support trusts further, the Department commissioned the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce independent and authoritative evidence based guidance on safe staffing.   NICE published guidance on ‘Safe Staffing for Nursing in Adult In-Patient Wards in Acute Hospitals’ on 15 July 2014. The guidance does not endorse a staffing ratio. It says that no single ratio can be applied across all wards and patient populations, but makes recommendations on safe nursing and identifies indicators that should be used by trusts to demonstrate safe and effective nursing care is being provided.   The NICE guidelines will ensure that National Health Service trusts have the tools they need to make decisions to secure safe staffing. These staffing decisions will then be subject to external scrutiny and challenge by commissioners, regulators and the public, and inspection by the Chief Inspector of Hospitals.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will direct NHS England to publish all submissions to its Stereotactic Radiosurgery Review.

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will direct NHS England to enable University College London Hospital to use the Gamma Knife on the same terms as it enables University Hospitals Bristol to use that equipment.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has advised that the future provision of Stereotactic Radiosurgery services for the National Health Service in England will be determined by the procurement exercise that will follow on from the consultation exercise that has recently ended. Until this process is completed there are no plans to change current commissioning arrangements.   All feedback received via the online consultation for the Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review will be collated and summarised and a report of the consultation findings will be considered by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group.   NHS England will publish a report outlining the key themes of the consultation findings on its website.

Cancer: Research

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on difficulties faced by medical researchers in accessing data for cancer research purposes.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to data for research purposes.

George Freeman: The Department has established the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) from 2012, under a multi-disciplinary team hosted as part of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The aim of the CPRD is to make it possible for researchers to access anonymised linked National Health Service data for research studies. The CPRD provides access to a wealth of data including cancer registers whilst ensuring only secure access to the data in strict accordance with United Kingdom and European law and the rules and regulations operating in the NHS.   Following the review of data releases made by the NHS Information Centre, published in June 2014, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) introduced stricter governance controls and more stringent quality checks before data can be shared.   To ensure timely access to data continues, the HSCIC has undertaken a significant programme of work over the past eight months to improve the efficiency of the service.   This has included:   - Setting up a single point of contact for the management of data access applications: the Data Access Request Service (DARS). Details of the DARS process are published on the HSCIC website at www.hscic.gov.uk/dars. A programme of work is underway to ensure that applications for primary care data, currently overseen by the General Practice Extraction Service Independent Advisory Group, and those with separate governance processes, are managed and tracked consistently by the DARS service; - Developing a single application form, data sharing contract and data sharing agreement, along with supporting guidance notes; - Strengthening the membership and increasing the frequency of meetings of the Data Access Advisory Group (DAAG). (DAAG is the key HSCIC body that makes recommendations on applications for HSCIC data dissemination.); and - Establishing new communications channels with customers including fortnightly bulletins, and assigning named case managers to each data application, working closely with those applying for data to help them understand and respond to the stricter requirements for approval.

Food: Salt

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of eligible food companies have signed up to the 2017 salt reduction targets.

Jane Ellison: Thirty-nine food companies have committed to meet the 2017 salt reduction targets. This represents 59% of the retail and manufacturing market in terms of salt.   Full details of the pledges under the Responsibility Deal (RD), including the partners who have signed up are available on the RD website at:   https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/pledges/

Cancer: Drugs

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222351, how much of the expected £340 million Cancer Drugs Fund budget for 2015-16 has been allocated to pay for drug indications (a) already funded by the Cancer Drugs Fund and (b) that will be funded by the Cancer Drugs Fund for the first time from April 2015.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that its estimated budget of £340 million for the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in 2015-16 is based on predictions of spend associated with the current national CDF list and incorporates estimates of the implications from the recent changes to the list, including the addition of some new drugs.

NHS: Standards

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his contribution of 21 January 2015, Official Report, column 250, what the evidential basis was of his statement that patients say that their care is safer and more compassionate than ever.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Published survey data by IPSOS Mori shows that between spring 2013 and the subsequent wave in winter 2013 the proportion of people who agreed with the statement ‘People are treated with compassion when they use NHS services’ increased from 64% to 72%.   The same survey also found that in winter 2013, 77% of people agreed with the statement ‘If I was very ill I would feel safe in an NHS hospital’ and this was equal to the highest proportion of people to have agreed with this statement previously, reported in winter 2012.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people were admitted to adult mental health wards during the weekend of 30 January to 1 February 2015.

Norman Lamb: It is Government policy that children and young people under 18 should be placed in age-appropriate settings wherever possible in line with legislation.   Data on the number of young people admitted to adult wards is commissioned by clinical commissioning groups - the Department and NHS England do not have routine access to this data. However, they are included in official National Health Service statistics which will be published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre for the period specified on 21 April 2015 and 20 May 2015.   National availability of children and adolescent inpatient Tier 4 beds is reviewed each week by NHS England. On 30 January, NHS England identified that the available number of general children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) beds was lower than in recent weeks.   In response, NHS England implemented contingency plans, including contacting existing CAMHS providers to seek additional capacity and increasing the use of intensive home support packages to allow children and young people to be treated at home or on a non-specialised ward. NHS England also contacted providers to establish what capacity existed in adult in-patient and community services to take cases on a temporary basis, should that option be required if there was no alternative.   NHS England continued to monitor the situation and followed up directly with providers on an exceptional basis. Our understanding from this monitoring is that one young person was admitted to an adult ward during the weekend.   The Government has provided £7 million additional funding in 2014/15 for NHS England to provide 50 additional CAMHS specialised Tier 4 beds for young patients in the areas with the least provision. 46 of these beds have now opened: 27 in Yorkshire, five in East Anglia, eight in Somerset and six in Torquay. This brings the total number of beds to over 1400, the highest this has been in the last 15 years.   NHS England have also introduced new national referral and discharge protocols for Tier 4 CAMHS, and recruited additional case managers to make better use of existing capacity.

Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings he has had on his Department's Responsibility Deal; and who the attendees of each such meeting were.

Jane Ellison: The Secretary of State for Health chaired the Responsibility Deal’s Plenary Group meetings that took place on 21 November 2012 and 30 October 2013. The action notes and attendee list for both these meetings are attached and can also be found on our website at:   https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/21-november-2012/ https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/30-october-2013/   On 7 October 2013 he met with Andy Clarke, Chief Executive of Asda, Chris Bush, Managing Director UK of Tesco and Justin King, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s.   He also met with representatives of food manufacturers on 18 November 2013. Attendees were as follows: Richard Evans, President, Pepisco UK Ireland and South Africa Maurizio Brusadelli, President UK and Ireland, Mondelez International Fiona Kendrick, Chairman and CEO, Nestlé UK and Ireland Gavin Darby, CEO, Premier Foods Jim Moseley, Managing Director, General Mills UK Jonathan Myers, Vice President European Markets and General Manager UK and Ireland, Kellogg Company Jon Woods, General Manager, Head of Coca-Cola UK and Ireland Melanie Leech, Director General, Food and Drink Federation 



Overview & attendes- Responsibility Deal- 21/11/12
(Word Document, 93.5 KB)




Overview & attendes- Responsibility Deal- 30/10/13
(Word Document, 45.97 KB)

Health: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the transfer to those authorities from NHS England of the responsibility for public health services for children aged 0 to 5 in October 2015.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has published guidance in the form of factsheets[i], for local authorities and other key stakeholders about the transfer of 0 - 5 years children’s public health commissioning, which from 1 October 2015 moves from NHS England to local authorities.   In autumn 2014 the Department part funded and participated in the Local Government Association’s series of regional roadshows. These events provided information to local stakeholders about the new commissioning arrangements, particularly finance and contracting issues, and about the proposed mandation of five universal reviews from the Healthy Child Programme.   The Department will ensure this guidance is refreshed as appropriate. Other key stakeholders have issued guidance on their own websites. [i] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transfer-of-0-5-childrens-public-health-commissioning-to-local-authorities

Autism

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to publish the final Autism Act 2009 Statutory Guidance.

Norman Lamb: The revised Autism statutory guidance will be published shortly.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's report Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, published in October 2014, which of the waiting time standards referred to in that report will apply to child and adolescent mental health services.

Norman Lamb: Improving access and reducing waiting times for mental health is a key priority and part of the Government’s commitment to Parity of Esteem.   Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, published 8 October 2014, contains the first waiting time standards for mental health.   It announces the introduction of standard waiting times for Early Intervention in Psychosis services: treatment within two weeks for more than 50% of people of all ages experiencing a first episode of psychosis, which will benefit young people directly.   The report also outlines a £30 million increased investment in liaison psychiatry to help people, including children and young people, presenting in accident and emergency departments with mental health problems, which will improve access to support in acute hospitals for those in crisis.   Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 also outlines a standard for the adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT): treatment within six weeks for 75% of adults referred to the IAPT programme, with 95% of people being treated within 18 weeks. Where adult IAPT services cover 16 and 17 year olds, they will also be covered by this standard.   Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 is intended as a starting point. The vision is for comprehensive standards to be developed for all ages, including for children and young people, by 2020.   The Department and NHS England will work together with mental health system partners to set out how and when access and further waiting time standards could be introduced, subject to resourcing decisions following the next Spending Review.   The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Well-Being Taskforce is also considering ways to improve access for children and young people and how to promote the collaborative commissioning of services to reflect the needs of children and young people.   As part of the Autumn Statement it was announced the Government will invest £150 million over the next five years in England to improve services for children and young people with mental health problems. This investment places a particular emphasis on eating disorders and it will deliver swifter access to evidence based community treatment for children and young people with eating disorders. With the intention of introducing a waiting time standard in 2016, the funding will begin in 2015/16.

Social Services: Pay

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the contribution of 7 January 2015 by the Prime Minister, Official Report, columns 270-1, if he will ensure that HM Revenue and Customs is instructed to carry out a new series of proactive investigations into non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage in the care sector in order to prosecute organisations that do not pay their staff properly.

Norman Lamb: Department of Health officials are working closely with their colleagues at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to support the enforcement of national minimum wage (NMW) in the care sector.   We have asked that HMRC re-start targeted enforcement work in the care sector, to build on the targeted work undertaken with the sector between April 2011 and March 2013.   Criminal investigations by HMRC and prosecutions by the Crown Prosecution Service will be taken in the most serious of cases. Prosecution will not necessarily result in arrears of wages being paid back to the workers. Our number one priority is getting workers the money they are owed and the civil route is more successful in achieving this. Under the civil route employers are not only faced with reputational consequences through naming and shaming but also face a financial penalty for breaking the law.